


New Reality

by stargatefan_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-10-09
Updated: 2005-10-09
Packaged: 2018-10-06 19:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10343127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatefan_archivist/pseuds/stargatefan_archivist
Summary: SPOILERS: The Enemy Within, Cold Lazarus, Torment of Tantalus, There But For the Grace of God, Within the Serpent’s Grasp, The Serpent’s Lair, NeedSUMMARY: The members of SG-1 struggle to adapt to the new reality into which they have been thrown, unaware of what still awaits them back on PXR 512. Part 2 of the Impossible Reality series.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Stargate SG-1 | Gen Fanfiction | New Reality

##  New Reality

##### Written by Sami-J   
Comments? Write to us at [sami-j@earthlink.net](mailto:sami-j@earthlink.net)

  * SPOILERS: The Enemy Within, Cold Lazarus, Torment of Tantalus, There But For the Grace of God, Within the Serpent’s Grasp, The Serpent’s Lair, Need 
  * SUMMARY: The members of SG-1 struggle to adapt to the new reality into which they have been thrown, unaware of what still awaits them back on PXR 512. Part 2 of the Impossible Reality series. 
  * RATING: PG-13, Language 



* * *

Part 2:

For an instant that seemed to go on forever, they all stood frozen, staring in utter disbelief at the ‘package’ in Kawalsky’s arms.

Then, without a word, and so swiftly he appeared to have levitated, O’Neill was in front of the Major, reaching for the small form of his son.As Kawalsky handed him over and took a step back, Jack dropped bonelessly to the ground, his head bowed over the child in his arms.

Daniel blinked but the picture did not change.   He threw a quick look around to see everyone still staring.In continuing disbelief, on the part of SG-1.With simple concern, on Kawalsky’s part.

“Uh, guys?” the archeologist said quietly.

Teal’c and Kawalsky looked at him but Sam seemed unable to tear her eyes away from the impossible scene in front of her.

“Sam!” Daniel hissed as he gently shook her arm.

She started and he gestured with his head.   They followed as he led them over to the pyramid.Although they were now several yards away, Daniel still kept his voice down.

“Let’s give them a little privacy, okay?”

He glanced back but the scene hadn’t changed.   Jack still sat on the ground, still clutching his son.Both man and boy were utterly still and silent.

Daniel felt tears stinging his eyes and he blinked rapidly.   Now was not the time, he told himself sternly.

Looking at his companions again, he saw that Sam appeared stunned, Teal’c’s eyebrow had almost taken flight, and Kawalsky . . . Kawalsky looked completely drained.Remembering his own stint in an alternate reality, Daniel suspected that the soldier was feeling more than just the normal physical exhaustion of anyone who had endured what he had.Having just been forced to abandon his own reality, filled with his family and friends, only to find himself suddenly in another very similar-yet different-reality, the emotional shock had to be more devastating than the physical.

And that he had been ordered to leave, forced to go against everything that made him who he was, in order to save the Colonel’s son-that had to take an additional toll.

For a moment Daniel couldn’t speak, overwhelmed by compassion for the soldier.Finally, he cleared his throat and said, “Maybe we should all sit down.”

Teal’c dropped gracefully to the ground, Kawalsky followed a bit more slowly, and Sam hesitated, her attention still focused on the silent pair at the edge of the jungle.Daniel gently patted her arm.

“Sam,” he said, quietly but insistently.

She jumped, her head whipping around, then her startled expression gave way to matter-of-factness.   “Good idea,” she said as she lowered herself to the ground.

Daniel followed suit, frowning to himself.   They were all shocked by this extraordinary turn of events, but Sam seemed especially shaken.   He knew there was no way she would drop her soldier’s front before Teal’c or Kawalsky.But the archeologist made a mental note that when they returned to the SGC, he was going to drag her off to someplace private and find out what was going on with his friend.

For now, there were other questions to be asked.  Before Daniel could decide which of the myriad questions ricocheting through his mind to ask first, Teal’c said, 

“That child is O’Neill’s son?”

Kawalsky nodded.“The Colonel had me bring him to the base yesterday, when the Gou’ald ships first showed up.I guess he figured Charlie would be safer there.”He rubbed his forehead wearily.“And he was right.If Charlie had still been at home, he’d probably be dead along with the rest-”

He stopped abruptly but it didn’t matter.   They all knew what he left unsaid.

“Why do you refer to O’Neill’s son as a ‘package’?”   Clearly, the Jaffa was handling this shock better than the others.He had no problem asking questions.

Surprisingly, Kawalsky smiled.   “I don’t know how it started but it was a running joke between the Colonel and Charlie.   Then, when the Colonel had me bring him to the base yesterday, he, um-” he scratched his head, his smile fading, “he just kept using it.   I think he felt it was safer talking about the ‘package’ than his ‘son’.”

The Major glanced at the silent pair across the way, his smile reappearing..“I wonder how the two Charlies are going to get along.”

Daniel closed his eyes.   He didn’t know why Kawalsky’s words hit him so hard.   The very fact that Charlie had been alive in that alternate reality was proof the Major couldn’t know what had happened to the boy in *this* reality.

While he hesitated, Teal’c enlightened the soldier.   “O’Neill’s son died several years ago.”

“What!”

Daniel gritted his teeth.   He had to say it; there was no way he was going to leave it to Jack to have to explain his heartbreaking loss.  “He accidentally shot himself with Jack’s gun.”

“Oh my-” the Major gulped convulsively, looking as if he was going to throw up.“Oh, no!” he whispered.

The anguish in the man’s voice tore through Daniel and he had to drop his gaze.He swallowed again, glancing at Sam in the hope that she would take over.   But one look was enough for him to recognize that she was still caught in the same emotions that had swept over her when she first saw Charlie O’Neill in Kawalsky’s arms.

Kawalsky was still shaking his head, his eyes focused on the pair sitting at the edge of the jungle.   With obvious difficulty he tore his gaze away to look at Daniel.

“It didn’t happen in my, uh, reality.   Almost, but it didn’t happen.”

It was Daniel’s turn to stare.   “What did happen?”

The soldier ran a hand over his features.   “Charlie found the Colonel’s pistol, but I guess his hands were too small to get a good grip.”   He shrugged.   “Six-year-olds don’t have big hands.   Thank God.The Colonel walked into the room while Charlie was still juggling it.”

Daniel looked down at his own hands again, gripping them as tightly as he could to stop them from shaking.   Charlie had only been six in that reality the day he discovered Jack’s gun?So he had been too small to grasp the weapon properly.And that had saved his life.

In this reality, Charlie had been a few years older.   Old enough to be able to hold the weapon.Old enough to pull the trigger and end his life. 

Let it go, Jackson, he told himself.What had happened was an unspeakable tragedy.But it was in the past.For the sake of the living, he couldn’t focus on the past.

Charlie had survived the accident in that reality.   Which probably meant . . . Daniel felt fresh nausea bubbling up at the thought of still another victim of the Gou’ald’s attack in that alternate reality.

“What about Sara O’Neill?” 

Kawalsky looked surprised, then uncomfortable.   “They got divorced after that.   The Colonel never said, but I guess things hadn’t been good for them for awhile and, uh, what almost happened to Charlie was the last straw.She took Charlie and moved up north a couple ‘a years ago.   Then when she was killed eight months ago, the Colonel went and brought Charlie back.”

“Killed?” Daniel managed, unable to get his freshly shocked mind to offer anything more original.

“She was hit by a drunk driver on her way home from work.”

Kawalsky was now looking around at them with a worried expression.For his part, Daniel was concentrating on taking deep breaths, hoping that enough oxygen would clear his mind.Similar yet different, that’s what Sam had said about alternate realities after his unexpected visit to one a few months ago.That description certainly applied to Kawalsky’s alternate reality when compared to this one.

The soldier’s gaze drifted back to O’Neill, still holding his son, and Daniel could see the new, shocked awareness filling the dark eyes.

“Damn,” he whispered, “what must the Colonel be going through now?”

A very good question, Daniel thought.   And a good bridge to his own next question.

“Is Charlie all right?   I don’t think he’s moved since Jack took him from you.”

Okay, the soldier was looking more than uncomfortable now and Daniel’s concern deepened.“Major?”

“I think he’s okay physically.   I mean, he twisted his ankle a couple hours ago but when I finally got him to this planet I checked it out and it doesn’t look serious.”

The soldier’s evasive response only increased Daniel’s concern.“What else?” he said quietly. 

Kawalsky glanced again at the silent pair, then back to his audience, then spoke in a rush. “Colonel O’Neill hurt his leg just before the Jaffa broke through to our level.He threw Charlie into my arms and ordered me to go.I started running but when I got to the top of the stairs-” his voice roughened and he paused to clear his throat, “I looked back.Just in time to see the Colonel get hit by a staff blast.”   His gaze dropped to the ground before he added, “He was probably dead before he hit the floor.Charlie was looking over my shoulder.He saw it, too.”

“He saw his father killed right in front of him?” Sam’s voice was tight with horror, then her face changed rapidly to dismay as she looked at the archeologist.

“Daniel, I-”

But Daniel shook his head.   “It’s okay, Sam.”This was not about him, he told the ancient emotions suddenly churning in his throat.   Trying to disregard them, he looked over at the quiet pair once again.

“We have to get Charlie back to the SGC,” he said.   And Jack, too, he thought.   Charlie may have seen his father killed in front of him, but Jack was face to face with the son whose broken, bleeding body he had once held while all the life drained from it.   While Daniel could empathize with Charlie’s shock, he suspected that the shock Jack had to be experiencing was just as traumatic, if not more so.

He turned to Sam.   “We’ve got to get back to the SGC now,” he said again.

Sam nodded and stood up, clearly back in control.   She looked over at her C.O. but Daniel was ahead of her.

“I’ll tell Jack we’re leaving.”

He left them gathering together the gear and headed toward Jack and Charlie.With each step he drew closer, and it required real effort not to slow down.   But he couldn’t leave them alone any longer.They both needed to be in the infirmary.

When Daniel reached them, he said quietly, “Jack?” as he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.He was dismayed to feel the tremors coursing through the older man’s body.   For an instant he wasn’t sure if they realized he was there, then Jack raised his head.

Daniel’s breath was snatched away by the sight of Jack’s reddened eyes.After a breathless instant, he took in a gulp of air and managed to smile.

“It’s time to go,” he said softly.   “Time to take Charlie home.”

Jack looked down at the small head pressed against his shoulder.He took a deep, slightly shaky breath and nodded.

Despite taking several hours, their hike back was made in virtual silence.Night was falling again by the time they reached the Stargate-just in time to hear General Hammond’s concerned voice coming from the MALP.

While Sam gave a quick overview of their situation to the General, Daniel glanced around at the small group.   Charlie’s continuing silence and Jack’s pale, haggard features made him thankful that the infirmary was just minutes away.

Kawalsky moved up beside him, his eyes fixed on the Stargate.When Daniel looked at him, he saw again the exhaustion that the Major had done so well in hiding.

On impulse, Daniel held out his hand.   “Maybe I should hold your rifle for you, Major.”As Kawalsky looked at him in surprise, the archeologist added, “Put yourself in the General’s shoes.   How do you think he’ll react to Major Kawalsky suddenly appearing after being dead for over a year?”

Kawalsky’s eyebrows shot up.   “I’m dead here?” he demanded incredulously.

Oops. 

Daniel offered him an apologetic smile.   “We still have a lot of ground to cover to bring you up to date in this reality.   But for now, I think you probably shouldn’t be carrying your rifle when you arrive at the SGC.”

Behind them, Daniel was vaguely aware that the event horizon had shut down.He watched the Major consider his words, then sigh and nod reluctantly as he handed Daniel his rifle.

Teal’c dialed home, then punched in their access code.   Still standing beside the MALP, Sam looked around at her team and its ‘guests’.She was angry with herself that she didn’t have a better handle on this situation.Her own long-ignored emotions were playing havoc with her military self and she had no clue how to deal with them except to try to shove them back down into the deepest recesses of her heart where they had dwelled all her life.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Daniel stayed close to Jack as they moved toward the Stargate.But as they passed the DHD, he couldn’t resist glancing over his shoulder to see the massive, ancient outline of the pyramid against the darkening sky.A pang of regret and longing shoot through him.   

Surely, surely they would be able to come back.

~*~

In the year and a half that Stargate Command had been operational, General George Hammond had dealt with his share of unbelievable situations.But in those memoirs he would never write, he figured he might just have to put this one at the top of the list.

Around the table were seated Captain Carter, Dr. Jackson and Teal’c.As his gaze drifted over their faces, Hammond realized that he was going to have to rein in his own astonishment because his people needed him to be calm and in control.

“Well,” he said finally.   “That’s the most extraordinary report I believe I’ve ever heard.   Although,” he added with a smile to Daniel, “what happened to you on P3R 233 is right up there with it, Dr. Jackson.”

Daniel smiled in return.   “How are Charlie and Major Kawalsky?”

Hammond dropped his head briefly to hide another smile.   Trust Dr. Jackson to be concerned not about the potential strategic and military issues involved but about the people who had been affected.   He cleared his throat before he said,

“The child is in the infirmary, as is Colonel O’Neill.   According to Dr. Frazier’s initial report, both of them are suffering from shock.”As he spoke, Hammond made a mental note to check on his 2IC himself, later.

“As far as the individual claiming to be Major Kawalsky is concerned, he is currently in an isolation room under guard while Dr. Frazier conducts her tests.”

“General, is the guard really necessary?”

“I’m afraid it is, Dr. Jackson.   I understand your concern but until I have undeniable proof that both of those individuals are in fact who they claim to be, I am not taking any chances with the security of this base.”

The archeologist subsided with an unhappy frown.

“Sir,” Captain Carter said, leaning forward, “PXR 512 presents us with a number of questions.   I would like to request a return mission with more advanced equipment that may be able to answer some of those questions.”

Hammond swallowed another smile.And trust Captain Carter to focus on the potential scientific and technological possibilities of the alien planet.SG-1 was composed of such uniquely different individuals that he often marveled at how well they worked together.

“I will take your request under consideration, Captain.   After I have read your reports, as well as Dr. Frazier’s final reports on our guests, I will advise SG-1 of my decision.”

Another unhappy acknowledgment, although the Captain was better at concealing her emotions than Dr. Jackson.

“Very well, then.I will expect to receive your reports before you leave the base this evening.   You’re dismissed.”

As Daniel followed Sam and Teal’c out of the briefing room, he knew that he needed to locate every piece of information the SGC had on Aztec culture and history.Which he suspected wouldn’t be much.With a year and a half’s worth of gate travel under their belts, the cultures they had most often encountered around the galaxy all had their roots in Egypt.   So it made sense that the vast majority of their reference materials-mainly compiled by one Daniel Jackson-focused on Egyptian history and culture.

When they reached the elevators, he was vaguely aware of both Sam and Teal’c saying their goodbyes and going off in other directions.But his acknowledgement of their departures did not distract Daniel from his thoughts.

He had been remiss in his research, he realized, frowning at himself.Focusing on one culture to the near exclusion of others.With this in mind, he suspected that, after he finished with their ever-growing research library, he was then going to be doing some extensive internet-surfing in order to find anything substantial on Aztec history and culture.

But before he could do any of that, there was something else he needed to do first.

When he reached the infirmary he stopped just inside the doorway.   Jack was slumped in a chair beside the bed containing a small, still form.One hand gripped the much smaller hand of his sleeping son while the other ran slowly up and down the boy’s arm.

Daniel’s throat tightened at the sight.   He could not imagine what his best friend was going through-

“Dr. Jackson.”

The soft voice brought his head around.   Janet Frazier stood beside him, her eyes also fixed on the quiet scene before them.

“Are they all right?” Daniel said, equally soft.

He was close enough to see the tiny muscles around her eyes tighten and the sight made his stomach lurch.

“Dr. Frazier-”

“The child became hysterical when we tried to take him from the Colonel so I had to sedate him.   Considering what he’s been through, sleep is probably the best thing for him right now.”A brief smile curved her lips.“I also persuaded the Colonel to take a tranquilizer.”

“Jack agreed to that?” the archeologist said in disbelief.

“Yes, after I promised that he could remain in the infirmary with the boy.”She slanted a sideways look at him.“I wouldn’t have prescribed it if I didn’t believe he needed it.”

The archeologist nodded.   He trusted the physician’s medical expertise.   But he couldn’t refrain from challenging her on another point.“It’s ‘Charlie,’ Dr. Frazier.Not ‘child’ or ‘boy’ but ‘Charlie.’”

Her smile was sympathetic.   “I understand and I agree with you.   But I need to follow procedure here.   As I advised General Hammond, my preliminary examinations support Major Kawalsky’s story, but I still need to do detailed DNA testing on both the Major and the-on Charlie.”

Daniel’s eyebrows rose again.   “Kawalsky won’t be any problem but how are you going to-” his mouth fell open in horror.   “Dr. Frazier, you’re not going to exhume-”

“No, no,” she said hastily, making hushing motions as she threw a quick look at the bed.   “Fortunately, that won’t be necessary.   Colonel O’Neill said that you know where he keeps a certain photograph album, is that correct?”

“A photograph-” he started, only to stop short as memory slammed into him.“Uh, yes, I do.”

“Good.According to the Colonel, the album contains a lock of his son’s hair.   A few strands will provide us with all that we need for DNA testing.Could you-”

“Get it?” Daniel said.   Immediately, he regretted interrupting the physician but he was so relieved that Jack wouldn’t have to face the exhumation of his son’s body that he couldn’t help himself. 

“Yes.Wait a minute, please.”She disappeared into the supply room at the end of the infirmary.As promised, the good doctor was back in only a minute.

“Put the sample in this,” she directed, holding out a small, clear, plastic container.

Daniel nodded, mentally shoving his research down a few notches on his priority list.“I   will.”

“Thank you.”Dr. Frazier patted his arm as she whisked by him, heading toward her office.

He looked at the container in his hand, his thoughts turning to Jack’s photograph album.And he sighed.

A short time after Daniel departed, Janet Frazier decided to check on her patients again.As she approached the bed, she saw that the child-Charlie-was still sleeping peacefully and Colonel O’Neill was stifling a yawn.   She shook her head at the sight, knowing very well that he was fighting the tranquilizer she had given him.

Although the knowledge frustrated the physician, she also thought she understood.All of the man’s most impossible hopes and dreams had suddenly been answered, and in the most unimaginable fashion.It was no wonder that he feared relaxing, possibly falling asleep, and then waking to find this had just been a dream.

She made no effort to keep quiet as she approached the bed, but he still started when she appeared beside him.

“Doc? Anything wrong?”

“No, Colonel.I’m just checking on my patient.”Dr. Frazier’s experienced eyes ran over the equipment monitoring the sleeping child and was pleased by the readings.“Everything looks good, sir.”She looked at the small form in the bed, her eyes softening.   

“It may take some time, Colonel,” she said softly, “but I believe that both you and Charlie will be fine.   She smiled.“You know, we’ve had several unexplainable incidents here since I began working at the SGC, but this tops them all.”The C.M.O. glanced at Jack, studying him with the sharp, assessing gaze everyone on the base had learned to dread.

“I prescribed that tranquilizer for a reason, Colonel.   You need to let it work.   It will help.”

She was not surprised when he looked back to his son, not acknowledging her words.“I can’t imagine what you’re going through now, sir, but, speaking medically, please don’t bury your feelings.You need to talk about them with someone.”

At the end of her statement, which was an order if O’Neill had ever heard one, Janet offered him another smile, threw another half-disbelieving glance at the bed, and moved away.

After she was safely out of sight, Jack rubbed his face wearily, then rested his head in his hands.   Talk about his feelings?Hell, right now all he could feel was a mass of seething, inchoate emotions.   The only things he knew for sure was that he had a pounding headache and an almost irresistible urge to throw up.

And wouldn’t Frazier love that all over her nice, clean, infirmary floor?She would have him in a bed, drugged to the eyeballs, before he had time to blink.

Okay, so throwing up wasn’t an option.

Maybe he should take Frazier’s advice and let her tranquilizer do its job.

~*~

Although Daniel had often used his spare key to get into Jack’s house, he had never done so when his friend was absent.

So it was with a vague uneasiness that he entered Jack’s house only forty minutes after talking to Dr. Frazier.

Daniel stood in the hallway for a minute, feeling the emptiness in the house.Without Jack’s presence, much of the warmth of the space was missing.

Then he smiled at the thought of how quickly things were going to change when Jack brought Charlie home.   Knowing his friend as he did, Daniel figured that the spare room was going to be undergoing some major changes, and fast.   It wouldn’t be a spare room anymore.   Soon, it would be Charlie’s room and the realization filled Daniel with satisfaction.

He admitted to himself that he was going to miss the spare room, and all the memories it held of the time he’d spent in Jack’s house.   But that was a small matter in the face of this new reality.

Daniel entered the living room and paused again.   He had been here so often that it had become almost as much a home to him as his apartment.   The archeologist shook his head at the thought of how often he had used Jack’s spare room, under both good and bad circumstances, the most recent being his recovery from his sarcophagus addiction-

His rambling thoughts came to a sudden halt.   This was the first time that nightmare had crossed his mind since they had been on PXR 512.

Daniel turned slowly in the room, amazed at himself.   But it was true.   The events on Shyla’s planet were beginning to lose their hold on him.

He took a deep and thankful breath.   It was a new reality for all of them, for more reasons than even Daniel had first recognized.

As he moved toward the living room, Daniel’s thoughts turned back to the night when he had first seen the photograph album, the night they had celebrated their victory over Apophis and Klorel.   It was hard to believe that had occurred less than three months ago.After the impromptu party at the SGC, the four of them had retreated to Jack’s house for their own little celebration of survival.

He smiled at the memory.   It had been very late when Sam and Teal’c finally left and, although Daniel had planned to go with them, Jack insisted that he stay in his spare room.   Once the suggestion had been made, Daniel realized that he didn’t want to be alone yet and accepted gratefully.   He had been asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, but it hadn’t lasted long.   Nightmares of what they had just been through proved stronger than his exhaustion, and finally Daniel gave up and decided hot coffee was the only solution.

He had been halfway down the stairs when he noticed that there was a light on in the living room.   Daniel’s first thought was that Jack had simply forgotten to turn it off.But as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see into the room.From his vantage point, he could also see the back of Jack’s head as he sat on the sofa.

So Daniel wasn’t the only one with nightmares.

It wasn’t until he came around the sofa that he saw several things simultaneously–a half empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table in front of Jack, a nearly empty glass of what he presumed was also whiskey in Jack’s hand, and a photograph album laying open in Jack’s lap.   The picture on the page was clearly visible and Daniel immediately realized that there was more going on here than simple nightmares.

“Hey, Jack,” he said.

Jack didn’t look up.   He merely continued to stare deeply into his glass as if it contained the answers to all the questions in the universe.   Then, out of nowhere, he said, “Do you think there’s anything after we die?”

His voice possessed a certain saturated quality that gave added weight to the half-empty bottle of whiskey.   Jack had obviously had a lot to drink.   And the alcohol had lowered his habitual barriers, if his question was any indication.

“Anything?” Daniel said carefully.   Sensing this was going to take awhile, he settled down in the overstuffed chair beside the sofa.

“Yeah.Another life, a different life.Somethin’ more.”

The archeologist sighed to himself.   With Jack looking well on his way to becoming totally blitzed, this did not seem to be the ideal time to begin a discussion of the philosophical issues surrounding the concepts of life and death.   But as he considered what they had just been through and, most importantly, the photograph album laying open across Jack’s knees, he knew he couldn’t shut his friend down.

“I really don’t know,” he said gently.   “There are a lot of people who have spent their lives studying those kinds of questions.   Maybe you want to talk to a priest or a minister-”

“No,” Jack said abruptly, raising his head to meet Daniel’s eyes.“I wanna talk to you.”   He looked back down at the 8-1/2 x 11 picture of his son that took up an entire page of the album, gently caressing the smile on that small, forever young, face.

“Do you think there’s really a God?   I don’t mean those snakes we’ve been fighting the last couple ‘a years.I mean the capital ‘G’ kind of God.The real deal kind’a God.”

Daniel stared helplessly at his friend.   He was *so* not the right person for Jack to have this kind of conversation with.

“I don’t know,” he said again.   “If I have to label myself, I guess I would say that I’m an agnostic.”

Jack blinked, giving Daniel an owlish look.   “And how’s that different from an ace- an atheist, again?”

That was the first time he had stumbled in his speech.   The alcohol was taking effect.

“Atheism,” explained the linguist, “denies the existence of any kind of supreme being, while agnosticism merely says that it’s unsure if there is a supreme being.The evidence isn’t exactly conclusive, after all.”

O’Neill snickered into his drink.   “I’ve never known you to be unsure ‘bout anything, Danny Boy.”

“Yes, well . . .” Daniel let his words trail off as he shifted uncomfortably.He wasn’t sure what Jack needed to hear but he was afraid that he wasn’t going to be able to give his friend what he needed.

Still looking down at his drink, Jack said softly, “I thought you were dead.”

Daniel leaned forward, not certain he had heard correctly.“You thought-”

“That you were dead!”   Jack’s head jerked up, his eyes filled with more than alcohol.   “On Klorel’s ship.   When I left you behind, lying on the floor with a hole through your chest.”

Oh, Jack.They had already hashed this out hours ago, or so Daniel had thought.

“I know,” he said gently. “And I thought you, Sam, Teal’c and Bra’tac would also be dead soon.But even if we had all died, we still would have saved Earth and billions of people from Apophis.That’s a pretty fair trade, don’t you think?”

Jack shook his head, his forefinger still tracing the outline of his son’s face in the picture.   “Me dyin’, thas okay.But Charlie means more t’me than eb- ever’one on this planet . . .” he shook his head again.

Pity seared Daniel’s throat.   He had never seen Jack so vulnerable, his continuing pain and grief so nakedly obvious.He stood up and settled down again on the sofa beside him.   Gently, he put his arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“I wan’ there to be somethin’,” Jack slurred, blinking at his friend.“After we die, you know?I don’ wannna believe Charlie’s gone forever.”

Daniel tightened his grip on the older man.   “I have no idea what may come after we die.But, call me contradictory, I believe that Charlie is all right.”

“An’ if you’d died on that damn ship, you need t’ be all righ’ too.”

The linguist opened his mouth, then, unable to respond, closed it again.

“But when . . . wen I die . . . I don’ think . . .”   Finally, Jack was fading, but the stubborn glint in his eye told Daniel that he wasn’t going down easily.

What about when Jack died?   The thought sent a chill through Daniel even while he ached for his friend.He wished desperately for the words that would help.

“You’re a good man, Jack,” he said quietly, then raised his voice when he saw the man’s head shake in negation.   “Not a perfect man.   None of us is perfect.   We all make mistakes, we all are often less than what we are capable of being.   That’s part of the human condition.   But you are a good man.A wonderful little boy named Charlie is proof of that.   And if the kind of God that the Bible talks about truly exists, then I have no doubt that you and Charlie will be together again one day.”

Jack’s gaze dropped back down to his drink, but, after a minute, he raised his head again.Daniel was startled by the transformation.The anguish and uncertainty in his eyes had softened, muted by a new emotion.   Of peace, Daniel realized in surprise.

He sent silent thanks out to whatever, or whomever, might be listening and leaned forward to pat his friend’s knee.

“Jack, how about if I help you get back to bed?”

The older man smiled, for the first time in hours.   “’kay.   I am kind’a sleepy.”

Daniel smiled back.   “Okay,” he said softly.

A car honked out in the street, startling Daniel from his memories.   He blinked as he refocused on why he was here, then settled on the sofa, leaning down to open the small drawer at the bottom of the coffee table.But he stopped in mid-motion at the sight of his shaking hand.

 

Slowly, Daniel sat back and took mental inventory, even more surprised to realize that the trembling gripped his entire body.

What was this?

Well, he knew what some of it was, sheer reaction to the events on PXR 512, the after affects of which were still reverberating here on Earth.

But the rest . . .

Daniel swallowed.   Less than three months ago, in this very room, he and Jack had talked about his friend possibly being reunited with his dead son one day.

Right now, in the bowels of Cheyenne Mountain, Jack was sitting by the bedside of his son, his living, breathing, son.

Except Charlie was still dead.

Yet Charlie O’Neill was very much alive.

They were the *same* child.   Yet one was dead and the other alive.

Daniel shook his head.   Glib talk about alternate realities couldn’t begin to ease the shock of this conundrum. 

Dear God, he thought.   If *he* was having trouble coming to grips with this new reality, how must Jack be feeling?

He needed to get back to the mountain, to be there in whatever capacity his friend needed.

With sudden determination, he pulled out the photograph album.Deliberately avoiding looking at individual pictures, Daniel opened to the last page of the album and began flipping backwards.Stopping, when he came to the right page.

As he had half-expected, it had been placed at the end of the section of pictures.He could see the lock of brown hair, carefully secured in a small, clear, cellophane packet.

Daniel rubbed hard at his suddenly stinging eyes.   He hadn’t anticipated this reaction.

Biting his lip until he could taste blood, he carefully opened the packet, extracted several strands of hair, then placed them in Dr. Frazier’s sample container.It was harder than he expected because his hands were shaking again.

But finally Daniel had finished his task, made sure the cellophane packet containing the remaining lock of hair was taped shut and secured back on its page.Only then did he close the album and return it to its drawer at the bottom of the coffee table.

Daniel was careful to make sure that he was leaving the house just as he had found it.As he paused, half-in and half-out of the front door, he took one more look around the quiet space.

Soon the quiet would be swallowed up by the laughter of a rambunctious nine-year-old.

It was a miracle.

But not entirely.

Jack’s son had still killed himself with his father’s gun.

Nothing could ever change that.   

Not even a new reality in which Charlie lived and laughed and spread equal parts of dirt and joy wherever he went.

Shaking more strongly now, Daniel walked out, pulling the door shut behind him.

~*~

When Daniel returned to the SGC, he went straight to the infirmary.His first sight as he entered was of Jack, still sitting beside the bed.   But this time he could hear the faint murmur of the man’s voice as he talked to his sleeping son.

His throat tightened and he turned quickly toward Dr. Frazier’s office.She was just coming out the door.

“Did you find it?”

“Yes.”

He pulled the container out of his pocket and handed it to her, looking away as she raised it to the light to peer inside.

“Thank you, Dr.- Daniel.”

Daniel looked at her in surprise.   It was the first time she had ever called him by his first name.

She smiled at his expression.   “A lot of things have been turned upside down today. This doesn’t seem to be the time for formality.”

So Dr. Frazier sensed it, too. 

And, as if to provide further evidence of their similar thoughts, she said, “Although I still have to complete the tests, at this point I’m fairly certain that they will just confirm the preliminary results.”

“That both Charlie and Major Kawalsky are genuine,” Daniel finished with a faint smile.

She nodded.“Speaking of the Major, he was ready to climb the walls of the ISO room so I sent him off to the exercise room.”

“Still under guard?”

The physician’s eyebrows arched.   “Of course.   Until the General says otherwise.   But I trust that  getting out of his room and being able to burn off some energy will help Major Kawalsky’s stress level.”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully.   Dr. Frazier was the first person he had run across who had expressed concern for Kawalsky’s wellbeing.   Granted, everyone was in shock over Charlie O’Neill, but still . . .

He looked at the quiet pair in the far corner.   “Everything’s okay with Jack and Charlie?”

“Yes.”She followed his gaze, then looked at him rather doubtfully.   “If you were thinking of sitting with them-”

“No,” Daniel said instantly.   

On the drive back, he had toyed with the idea of staying in the infirmary for a while in case Jack might need anything, but the quiet intimacy of the scene before him changed his mind.   He would check back later to see how his friend was doing.

Which left one other friend whom Daniel needed to see before he could focus on the research that still needed to be done.

He found Sam where he expected, in her lab, hunched over something that liked like a mutant microscope.   To his relief she was alone, and he closed the door behind him to keep it that way.

Sam looked up at the sound.   “Hi, Daniel.Have you heard how the Colonel and his son are doing?”

Very good, Sam, he thought.   All very casual and normal sounding to someone who didn’t know Samantha Carter.But Daniel had been working beside her for almost a year and a half, and he did know her.   The slight tightness in her expression and the faintly brittle undertone only confirmed his suspicions.

“Jack’s okay,” he said, “and Dr. Frazier thinks that Charlie will be okay.”

“That’s great,” she smiled.

“Yes,” he agreed, advancing further into the room.   “So how are you doing?”

Surprise raised her eyebrows.   “There’s nothing wrong with me, Daniel.   I’m fine.   But you’re  too early if you want to know if I’ve come up with anything.I haven’t started my tests yet.”

Also normal, except that Daniel hadn’t missed the faint flash of alarm in her eyes before she spoke.

He wasn’t surprised by her attitude.   In fact, he had expected it.   Sam was always so concerned about projecting a proper military demeanor.The last thing she would want to do is reveal anything that she would consider inappropriate or weak.And she would certainly put emotions under the category of weakness.

Which was another aspect of the military mindset that annoyed Daniel no end.

Okay, he thought silently.   He could play hardball.

“What happened to you on the planet, Sam?”

“What?”  She laughed slightly.“Daniel, you were there.   You know what happened as well as I do.”

He was not about to be deterred by her deliberate obtuseness.“Sam, when you saw Charlie, you looked just as stunned as Jack.”

“We were all stunned,” she defended herself.

“Yes, but not as much as Jack.   Except for you.”

“Look, Daniel, I really don’t know-” Sam hesitated as she took in the determined expression of her friend and teammate.   She had watched, more times than she could remember, the Colonel and Daniel arguing about this or that.   The Colonel had often ended up winning, especially when it involved the safety of his team, an issue on which he would *never* compromise.

But Daniel had also won a number of their arguments because, as Colonel O’Neill was wont to say between gritted teeth, the archeologist “didn’t have the sense to know when to quit!”

Reluctantly meeting that direct blue gaze, Sam recognized that Daniel was in full not-going-to-quit-no-matter-what mode.   Which mean that resistance on her part was futile.

She sighed her surrender.   “It’s stupid.And selfish.   And juvenile.”

His smile was gentle.   “I doubt any of those adjectives are correct.   Please, Sam, tell me what’s wrong.”

Faced by his concern, Sam could feel the emotions she had just managed to tamp down beginning to well up again.   When she glanced down, she was surprised to see that her fingers were tightly woven together.   She didn’t remember doing that.

“Sam?”

She took a deep breath and plunged in.   “It’s just . . . when I saw the Colonel with his son, his son who had *died* in this reality, all I could think about was-” her voice thickened and she cleared her throat fiercely, “whether my mother might still be alive in some alternate reality.” 

Sam was horrified to feel tears pressing against her eyelids and blinked rapidly.For an instant, she thought she would be all right, then made the mistake of looking up to see Daniel watching her, his blue eyes filled with compassion.

Damn it! No! she told herself vehemently even as she felt the tears begin to slide down her cheeks.

Without a word, Daniel leaned forward to wrap his arms around her, and the gesture was her undoing.   She clung to him as long-suppressed sobs finally broke free.

Sam could never have admitted the truth to anyone else in the Mountain, but Daniel was safe.He wasn’t military and disagreed with much of the macho attitude that characterized the military.That knowledge, coupled with the friendship that had developed between them in the last year and a half, was enough to break through a lifetime of denial, a denial that had already been softened by the shock of the Colonel’s dead son returned to him.

She gripped him with all of her strength, feeling her tears soaking into his uniform.Later, Sam would resume her military façade.But for now, for the first time in her life, she could grieve openly, both for her lost mother and for the little girl she had once been, shattered and isolated by her grief.

How much time passed, neither of them knew.   But finally Sam drew back and glanced futilely around her lab in search of tissues, knowing that she didn’t have any.

“I’m sorry,” she managed while wiping at her wet face with the sleeves of her jacket.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“No, really,” she insisted, sniffing fiercely.   “Here I am bawling over losing my mother when you lost both your parents at the same time . . . and you were there, and it-”

“Don’t, Sam.”He waited until she lifted her eyes to him before adding, “Grief isn’t comparative.   It just is.   You grieve for your mother, I grieve for my parents, and both our griefs are equally valid.”

She managed a rather wobbly smile and then gave him a quick hug.“Thanks, Daniel,” she whispered.

He patted her back before drawing away.   Sam was relieved to see that he recognized her need for privacy.

Daniel took a few steps back and gave her a long look.   “Are you going home soon?”

She shook her head.   “I’m having more equipment brought down here so that I can run tests on the samples I took from around the pyramid.   And I still have to write up my report for the General.”

Translation:Sam wasn’t going home tonight.

Daniel could hardly say anything unless he wanted to hear clichés such as, “look at the pot calling the kettle black,” that his teammates was so fond of using on him.

“I’ll see you later,” he said.

He was almost at the door when Sam called to him.   “Check back with me in the morning, Daniel.Hopefully, I’ll have something by then.”

The archeologist smiled and nodded, closing the door behind him as he left.

When Daniel reached the elevator, his finger hovered over the button that would send him to the sixteenth level, where the research library waited for him.But something Dr. Frazier had said in the infirmary still echoed in his mind.   So he decided to make one more detour.

He could hear the sounds before he reached the exercise room-someone was beating the stuffing out of a punching bag.   An SF was stationed just inside the door and Daniel nodded to him as he went by.

The large room seemed even larger than usual since it currently contained only one occupant. Major Charlie Kawalsky had his back to the door, all of his attention and energy focused on the heavy bag he seemed bent on beating into oblivion.Daniel stopped a safe distance away and watched while debating how best to approach the man.

Without warning, Kawalsky suddenly wheeled around, slightly crouched, fists ready.Automatically, Daniel took a step back and raised his hands in the air.

“Take it easy, Major, I come in peace.”

Kawalsky grinned, his gloves dropping to his sides.   Though drenched in sweat and panting from his efforts, the tension Daniel had noticed since PXR 512 had eased.   The archeologist mentally applauded Dr. Frazier’s wisdom in sending the man out to burn up some pent-up energy.

“What the hell are you doing here this time ‘a night, Dr. J?”

“I’m headed for the research library.   This just happened to be on the way.”

“On the way?” the Major frowned.  “If this SGC is set up like mine, you’re a couple floors out of your way.”

Daniel smiled.“You caught me.I really just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Kawalsky shrugged.   “Okay.Actually, Doc, I’m glad you came around.There’s something I’ve been wanting to say to you, um, except I’m not sure how to say it.”

Well, this was unexpected.   Daniel nodded encouragingly.   “Just say what you’re thinking, Major.”

He watched as the soldier shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck.Whatever the man had on his mind was obviously difficult for him to verbalize.   But the linguist knew better than to try to help.

“I, uh, I just wanted to, um, you know, say I’m sorry.”

Daniel’s brows arched.   “I don’t understand.”

Kawalsky huffed out a large breath of air.   “I really suck at this kind’a stuff.   It’s just that, well, back on that planet, PXR whatever, when I started to go after the Colonel’s son, I realized I was about to give you a real kick in the teeth.   I mean, when I told you about Sha’re being pregnant, well-” he hesitated, his discomfort obvious.  “I mean, you were so surprised.Which meant-” he stopped and cleared his throat.

“Which meant that it didn’t happen in this reality,” Daniel finished gently, fresh pain warring with surprise at the Major’s concern.

“Yeah.I’m sorry if I, uh, said, well, anything that made, you know, made you feel bad.”

Kawalsky and Jack O’Neill.   Two peas in a pod.Heaven help them when they fell into emotional waters because neither man knew how to swim in them.

Recognizing that, Daniel was warmed all the more by Kawalsky’s awkward but sincere words.

“Thank you, Major,” he said quietly.   “That means a lot.  Not that I think you need to apologize for anything, you understand.You were just doing what you had to.But I appreciate the thought.”

“Um, yeah.   Sure.”Kawalsky was carefully looking in every direction except Daniel’s and the archeologist had to work hard to suppress a smile.Time to change the subject before the tough, combat-hardened soldier died of embarrassment.

“Could I ask you for a favor?”

That brought the soldier’s gaze back to him, surprise overriding his embarrassment.“A favor?What- uh, sure.”

“Can you tell me about your reality?” Daniel asked.

Kawalsky frowned.   “Tell you about it?”

“Yes,” the archeologist nodded.   “About the SGC, the people, your life there.”

The Major’s frown deepened.   “The General’s already debriefed me.   If you-”

“No,” Daniel smiled.   “I’m not interested in debriefings.   I’m interested in what your life was like.”

“Ohhh.”Kawalsky looked surprised, then pleased, his trademark grin starting slow but continuing until it spread across his face.   “Okay.Um, where should I start?”

“Wherever you want,” Daniel said.   As the soldier began talking, he was pleased to see the man’s entire demeanor relax a bit.

He knew he couldn’t stay long.   But Dr. Frazier’s casual comment had reinforced Daniel’s own concern.It had been bothering him that no one seemed to notice how much Major Charles Kawalsky had lost when he brought Charlie O’Neill through the quantum mirror.   Yes, this reality was similar to his own.But it wasn’t the same. style='mso-tab-count:1'>      

These moments now were just a beginning, but at least they *were* a beginning.Daniel listened, hoping the man would be able to unwind and remember the reality that was now lost to him.And, perhaps, the remembering might ease his way into this new reality, into this whole new life, similar but different from what he had always known.

Charlie Kawalsky had given up everything to save Jack’s son.

The least Daniel could do for him in return was to listen for a while.

~*~

Although Jack would never admit it, he was glad, after the fact, for the tranquilizer that Dr. Frazier had insisted he take.   Once under its influence, he had felt the overwhelming emotions that had been assaulting him since his first sight of Kawalsky’s ‘package’ begin to draw back, allowing him to breathe again.

The emotions were still there, confused, chaotic, overpowering.But for now they were keeping their distance.They no longer held him captive.He could think again.

He needed to be able to breathe.   To think.   So that he could begin to try to make sense of what really didn’t make any sense.

Jack couldn’t take his eyes off the small sleeping figure.His son, Charlie.   Alive and healthy.

But his son, Charlie, had died nearly three years ago, the result of O’Neill’s unforgivable stupidity.

Yet here Charlie was.   Alive.Healthy.   His blanket-covered chest rising and falling with each gentle exhalation.His small hand warm in his father’s grip.

How in the hell was Jack supposed to be able to wrap his mind around this completely new reality that could never erase the old reality?

He scrubbed his face vigorously with his free hand in a gesture that also wiped away the moisture that insisted on leaking from his eyes at odd moments, despite all of his efforts to control it.   

After the tragic loss of his son, Jack had been headed down a long, slippery slope toward oblivion.   He recognized it, welcomed it, and welcomed General West’s offer of a suicide mission.If not for a nosy, way-too-bright-for-his-own-good, interfering black sheep of an archeologist, Jack would have died on Abydos.   Along with Sha’re, Ska’ara, Kasuf and all the other Abydonians.

But Ra would, most likely, have still have been alive, wreaking havoc and slaughter wherever he went.

And Earth would have been left ignorant of and utterly vulnerable to the Gou’ald.

Huh.

Jack sat back in his chair, amazed at where his slightly drugged thoughts were taking him.He had never considered this scenario before.

“Way to go, Daniel,” he murmured aloud.

Not only had Daniel stepped between Jack and self-destruction during that first trip to Abydos, but in the process he had helped to save Abydos, destroy Ra, make the Stargate program possible, and . . . oh, yes . . . his stubborn, independent, I’ll-obey-orders-when-I-want-to attitude had led him to a quantum mirror, an alternate reality, and the intel to save *their* Earth.

Damn.

And a side benefit of Daniel’s quantum adventures . . . the ability to recognize what was happening now.

Jack’s gaze roved hungrily over the familiar and beloved features of the peacefully sleeping child.   He would never have believed this possible, to have his dead son returned to him, alive again.

Except . . .

This wasn’t his dead son.

But it was his son.

But Charlie had died.

Yet here Charlie was, alive again.

But Jack knew that the cemetery plot in which his son had been buried nearly three years ago was still occupied.

His Charlie had died.

But this *was* his Charlie, the son of Jack and Sara O’Neill.

Hell.

Jack closed his eyes against the confusing mass of jumbled emotions threatening to overwhelm him once more.   He took deep, slow breaths, trying to relax, muscle by muscle.   This time he welcomed the medication slipping through his system to once again force those emotions back into the recesses of his mind. 

He sighed deeply, thankful for the tranquilizer that was once more taking the edge off of the intensity of his thoughts, particularly when he realized where his thoughts were drifting.   Back to a time not quite a year ago, when another previously unimaginable event had occurred.

It had taken that crystal entity’s impersonation of Charlie to finally get Jack to face his grief and, especially, his guilt.   The entity had enabled him to tell Charlie all that he hadn’t had a chance to tell him before.   It had enabled him to say goodbye to the child he had adored.Would always adore.

Jack swallowed as he looked at his sleeping son.

How could he welcome Charlie back when he knew Charlie was dead?

Except he wasn’t dead now.

Except he still was.

~*~

For the next few hours, Jack dozed on and off, never losing his grip on Charlie’s hand.Finally, his body’s distress overrode the tranquilizer and he regained full consciousness, yawning and stretching until he thought his joints would pop.

Despite the fact that his over-full bladder was demanding immediate relief, Jack lingered for a minute while his gaze traveled over the oh-so-familiar features of his son.He still couldn’t wrap his mind around all this.   He just hoped time would help with that.

A few minutes later, Jack was back beside the bed again.He was very aware of the figure sitting in a chair near the door, taking notes as he thumbed through book after book from the pile sitting on the small portable table beside him.

Jack didn’t know exactly when Daniel had planted himself there, but even while he dozed he had been vaguely aware of the quiet presence.   The awareness had filled him with a warmth he couldn’t articulate but still appreciated.

At that moment Daniel looked up from his book to catch Jack’s gaze.Jack smiled and gestured him over.He watched as the archeologist carefully bookmarked his place and put the book aside before rising.

When the archeologist reached him, Jack felt those sharp eyes studying him with an intensity that ordinarily would have annoyed him.   But this time, the knowledge only warmed him further.

“Hey, Jack,” Daniel said softly.   “How are you doing?”

Maybe it was the remnants of the tranquilizer, maybe it was exhaustion, but when Jack opened his mouth, the truth slipped out.   “Like shit.   How ‘bout you?”

Daniel smiled.   “Better than shit, that’s for sure.   Maybe some real sleep would help.”

“I’m not so sure.”   Jack looked at his son again, feeling his friend’s eyes on him.   “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Daniel.Or what I’m supposed to feel.”

Wow, the archeologist thought.   That tranquilizer must be part truth serum.

“I don’t believe there’s a certain way you’re *supposed* to feel, Jack.”

The older man shook his head slowly, still watching his son.   “I just . . . I can’t wrap my mind around this.”

Daniel gripped his friend’s shoulder.   “No one is expecting you to come to terms with what’s happened right away.It’s going to take time.For both of you.”

Jack blinked rapidly.   When he spoke again it was in a whisper.   “My Charlie’s dead.”

Daniel’s heart twisted in his chest.   “Yes,” he agreed softly.

“But this *is* my Charlie.”   He looked up suddenly with desperate eyes.   “How in the hell am I supposed to make sense of that?How in the hell is he supposed to replace-”Jack stopped abruptly, leaving the jagged ends of his sentence hanging in the air between them.

Daniel tried to swallow but his throat was too tight.   Yes, that was the crux of the issue.   

“Jack,” he said softly, “there’s no way one child can replace another, even under circumstances such as this.   It could never happen and I think you’d lose your mind trying to force yourself to think in those terms.   But maybe there’s another way to look at this situation.Maybe you can think of the boys, not as one replacing the other but just as brothers.   You lost Charlie and no one can replace him.   But his brother-also your son-is here now.He still needs you.”

It was a simple change of viewpoint.   Daniel feared that it was perhaps too simple, given the staggering implications of this new reality.   But if Jack was able to shift his perspective, then he could get away from that damned ‘replacement’ idea which could never work.

He watched his friend, not certain how he would respond.For another moment, Jack continued to stare at the sleeping child and Daniel had no idea what he was thinking.But finally the older man looked at the archeologist, who was startled to see how the lines of tension and distress on Jack’s haggard features had softened.

Jack stared at him with a touch of awe as he turned Daniel’s words over in his mind.It was such a simple idea.Yet he could actually feel the huge weight of fear and apprehension sliding from his shoulders as he began to adjust to this new viewpoint.

“Daniel,” he said, marveling, “that could work.   I *can* wrap my head around that.”   He looked at the sleeping child, feeling his heart swelling with fresh love, this time untainted by fear or confusion.   “Why in the hell didn’t I think of it?” he demanded of himself.

The archeologist smiled.   “Well, you have had other things on your mind.”

Jack laughed quietly and Daniel silently rejoiced at the sound.“Ya think?”

His gaze drifted back to his sleeping son and Jack could feel something easing deep inside his heart.   As his eyes roamed over the familiar, beloved, young features, a three-year-old yearning softened.

For no reason, he suddenly grinned at his friend.   “I haven’t introduced you to my son.”

It was Daniel’s turn to laugh softly.   “That will probably work better when he’s awake.”

“Which won’t be for a while.   The Doc said Charlie should sleep through the night.”

Charlie.That reminded Daniel of something he had wondered about earlier.   “Did you name your son after Kawalsky?”

Jack shrugged, clearly embarrassed.   “Not exactly.   We’d just been through a hairy mission.   Kawalsky saved my life.And Sara already liked the name.‘Charlie’ was her dad’s name.”He shrugged again.   “It probably would’ve ended up our son’s name regardless.”

Daniel smiled, then frowned.   “Wait.I thought your father-in-law’s name was Mike.”

O’Neill’s eyebrows rose.   “I don’t remember telling you that.”

“Well, you must have.   Isn’t it Mike?”

Jack shook his head.   “Sometimes you’re downright scary.   It’s complicated.”He glanced at the sleeping child and his features softened.   “What the hell.When Sara was a little girl, her father was an alcoholic who finally up and left his family.   Later on, Sara’s mother divorced him and married Mike.Sara grew up calling him ‘Dad.’Then, just a year before Charlie was born, her real father, Charlie, showed up again.   He’d finally gotten himself sober and wanted to apologize to his family for what he’d put ‘em through.   A few months later, he was dead from liver disease.”

Daniel was silent for a moment, thinking of the story behind that bare recital.When he looked at his friend again, Jack was wearily rubbing his eyes.

“Why don’t you get some sleep?” he suggested.

Jack shook his head even as he yawned.   “I don’t want Charlie to wake up and me not be here.”

Daniel looked around.   This time of night, the infirmary was quiet, the lights turned low.   None of the other beds were in use so they were alone in the room.

“Why don’t you stretch out on this one?” he said, patting the bed next to Charlie’s.He saw Jack begin to shake his head again and said quickly, “I’ll stay here.   The minute he begins to stir, I’ll wake you.”

The older man hesitated, glancing at the other bed.   “You should get some sleep yourself.”

“I will later,” Daniel smiled, gesturing toward the pile of books on the table.“I have some research to finish first.”

“Daniel-”

“I’m fine, Jack.Right now I need to do this and you really need to get some sleep.   You won’t be much good to Charlie, otherwise.”

A low blow, Daniel knew, but it had the desired effect as his friend finally sat down on the other bed.   He yawned again, then rubbed his jaw as he eyed Daniel.

“Could you, um, hold his hand?   I want him to know he’s not alone, even while he’s sleeping.And, uh, maybe you could, you know, talk to him?”

Gently, Daniel took the small hand in his.   “I’ll be glad to.”

That won a tired smile from Jack.   “Thanks, Daniel,” he whispered as his head fell back on the pillow.

“You’re welcome,” the linguist returned softly.   He estimated that Jack was asleep within seconds, but waited another minute or two before turning to the sleeping child.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Charlie,” he said quietly.“Your dad’s right here whenever you need him.What do you say to the two of us getting acquainted?Of course, I have an advantage because your dad’s already told me some things about you.  But I know you’ll catch up quickly.   My name is Daniel Jackson and I’m a good friend of your dad’s . . .”

The books lay where Daniel had left them.   They weren’t going anywhere.   His research could wait awhile.   For now, he had something more important to do.

~*~

Daniel yawned prodigiously as he stretched his limbs as best as he could while sitting.Glancing at his watch, he was pleased to see that Jack had managed to get several hours of uninterrupted sleep.And hopefully a few more before-

Charlie stirred, his head turning as he made small, smacking sounds with his mouth.Daniel watched him for a moment, half-expecting the boy to settle again.   But instead he saw the small eyelids flutter and realized he was waking up.

Daniel turned quickly to the other bed and put his hand on Jack’s shoulder.Giving him a gentle shake, he said, 

“Jack, Charlie’s waking up.”

As always, Jack awoke instantly and fully alert.   Before Daniel had time to draw his hand away, the older man was sitting up and looking around.

“Daniel?”

“Charlie’s waking up,” he repeated.

Immediately, Jack was on his feet.   They both heard a faint moan come from the child and, that quickly, Jack was bending over the bed, once again holding his son’s hand.

“It’s all right, buddy,” he soothed.   “Dad’s here.   Everything’s okay.”

As much as he would like to have lingered, Daniel quietly moved away.This moment belonged to Jack and Charlie.

He headed over to the commissary to get some badly-needed coffee.While there, he managed to force down some breakfast, which gave him an idea.

Less than an hour after he had left the infirmary, he returned with a heavily-ladened tray.He was just in time to almost run into General Hammond as the base C.O. was leaving.Only a quick side-step prevented a messy accident, and Daniel stumbled back against the wall to avoid dropping his burden.

Hammond caught the edge of the tray, holding it until the archeologist regained control.Daniel offered him a sheepish grin.

“Thank you, sir.And I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, Dr. Jackson.   I appreciate your quick reflexes.”

“Is everything all right, sir?”

“Everything is fine, son.   I just wanted to check on things myself, and have a little chat with the Colonel.”As Hammond surveyed the tray, his pale blue eyes twinkled with amusement.“Breakfast for our boys?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Excellent idea, Doctor.   Don’t let me hold you up.”

He stood aside and Daniel entered the infirmary for what felt like the hundredth time since they had returned from PXR 512.

As he neared Charlie’s bed, he noticed that the boy was asleep again.But Jack was-

Daniel’s brows arched at Jack’s stormy expression.

“Is Charlie all right?” he said uncertainly.

The older man looked up in surprise.   “What’s that?”

“Breakfast for two.”

Jack’s expression softened slightly and Daniel’s heart resumed beating.Whatever had upset his best friend didn’t involve Charlie, at least not directly.   Which made him wonder about the ‘little chat’ the General had just had with his 2IC.

“Thanks, but Charlie wasn’t awake long.”   His lips curved upwards.   “He opened his eyes, said ‘hi, Dad,’ and was out like a light again.”

Daniel felt himself smiling a little foolishly and, belatedly, set the tray on the stand beside the bed.   “Well, you still need to eat.”

Jack yawned widely and inspected his friend’s offering.   “All right, pancakes,” he approved, downing the glass of orange juice in a few gulps.   He sat down and tackled the food with gusto.

“What time is it?” he managed between bites.

Daniel glanced at his watch.   “It’s just after 5:30 in the a.m.   It’s a brand new day.”Glancing at the sleeping child, he smiled.“And a brand new reality.”

“What?” Jack said, his fork paused in mid-air.

“Think about it,” Daniel said.   “Events that we would have considered impossible have occurred.Major Kawalsky is part of the SGC again.Thanks to the quantum mirror and, I think, the pyramid on PXR 512, our very concept of what constitutes reality has been turned upside down.   And,” he added, his smile softening, “there’s Charlie.If all that doesn’t constitute a new reality, I don’t know what does.”

“A new day,” Jack said softly, his eyes never leaving his son’s sleeping form.“And a whole new reality.”

Daniel’s throat tightened at the gentle wonder in his friend’s voice.It was time to leave.“I’ll see you later,” he said as he moved away.

“Wait a minute.”Jack turned around and the archeologist’s eyebrows went up.   He knew that expression all too well.   This was the Colonel talking, now.

“If SG-1 goes back to that planet, it doesn’t look like Hammond will let me go along.”

So that’s what the General had been talking to Jack about.

The strength of his dismay startled Daniel.   How could SG-1 go off-world without Jack?   But he also recognized what was happening.Of course Jack couldn’t leave Charlie.Not now.

Except, the thought of his team going off-world without him had to be tearing Jack apart.The only thing the archeologist could do to help was to hide his own apprehension and try to convince his friend that this was for the best.

Daniel gave SG-1’s C.O. his best smile.   “You should stay here, Charlie needs you, especially now.And you don’t need to worry, Jack.If we do go back there, I’m sure everything will be fine.Sam will do a great job, Teal’c will watch our sixes, and we’ll hopefully be able to bring back some answers about that pyramid.”

O’Neill scowled.   “Thanks for the cheerleading, Daniel.   But the point I wanted to make is that, if SG-1 does go back without me, you’re going to have to listen to Carter and Teal’c, do what they say.   Understand?”

“Well, of course,” the archeologist huffed, offended

“No, not ‘of course,’” Jack said sternly.   “There’s never any ‘of course’ about it.   I want your word.”

Daniel looked at the floor, hoping his irritation wasn’t obvious.He knew exactly what his friend and C.O. meant, and the knowledge made him feel hogtied.

But he couldn’t add to the stress Jack was already under.

He sighed and nodded.   “Okay.”

O’Neill nodded, his severe expression softening.   “Thanks.”

The archeologist nodded in return.   Without saying a word about it, they both understood where the other was coming from.   It was one of the unique aspects of their friendship that, once again, Daniel was grateful for.

He gave him another smile and, leaving Jack with his son, went out to finish up his research.

Two hours and three cups of coffee later, Daniel sat back from his desk with a sigh.The good news was that he believed he had now read everything available on the ancient Aztec twin-stair pyramids, as well as increased his knowledge of the Aztec culture and history.He hadn’t had time to read everything, but it was enough for him to feel as if he had a good grasp of the subject.

The bad news was that nothing he had read spoke to their current experience with the pyramid on PXR 512.   He had spent a good part of his night reviewing what little they actually knew about the pyramid, adding to it his own intuition and suspicions.All which had led him to hypothesize a few tentative theories that he suspected Sam would be most unhappy to hear.

Speaking of whom . . .

She had told him to come back in the morning and it was now morning.

Daniel stretched mightily, then gulped the last cold dregs from his coffee cup.Hopefully, her more sophisticated equipment had been able to unlock a few of the pyramid’s secrets.

When he reached the corridor he paused.   If Sam had indeed spent the night working, she would probably appreciate a little gift.   The thought turned Daniel back to his office.

Fifteen minutes later he knocked on her door.   When the knock went unanswered, Daniel opened it just wide enough to see Sam hunched over the counter, frowning ferociously at something he couldn’t see.

Uh-oh.

“Good morning,” he said tentatively.

Her head jerked up and she immediately winced and rubbed the back of her neck.Daniel winced in sympathy.He knew exactly how she was feeling.

“Maybe this will help,” he said, proffering a cup of just-made coffee.

Sam’s eyes widened and she sighed in relief.   “You really *are* a genius, Dr. Jackson,” she said as she took the cup and immediately gulped down a mouthful.

The archeologist pretended not to notice the brief, sideways glances she was giving him.He would never bring up her tearful confession last night.   But he understood that she was still feeling a bit exposed after what she would perceive to be an exhibition of her ‘weakness’.   Give her a little time, and Sam would be just fine.

Daniel waited tactfully for the caffeine to kick in.   His gaze turned to the counter to see several small rocks of varying sizes spread over the surface.   When Sam finally lowered the now nearly-empty cup, he pointed at them.

“Are those what I think they are?”

She gave him a little smile.   “If you think they’re the samples I obtained from the dirt around the pyramid, then yes they are.”

“Did you find anything?” he said hopefully.

Sam sighed, her brief levity evaporating.   “No.   According to every piece of equipment I’ve tried, these samples do not exist.”She picked up one piece the size of her small finger nail.

“Which means I shouldn’t be able to do this,” she continued as she held up the tiny piece between her thumb and forefinger.   She stared at it and shook her head, before setting it down again beside its companion pieces.   Something caught her attention and her gaze lingered, turning into a frown.

“Wait a minute.There are some pieces missing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”She gently ran a finger over them.“There were twelve pieces total.I counted them when I first emptied the container I’d stored them in.”

Daniel looked over her shoulder.   “I count seven.”

“So do I.”Sam glanced around the counter, her frown deepening.   “Almost all of the smaller pieces are gone.   That doesn’t make sense.   I haven’t left my lab since I opened the container.No one could have come in and taken them.”

Daniel looked at the remaining pieces of stone, considered the smaller pieces that were missing, and mentally reviewed one of his theories.   Intuition made a couple of leaps and he blinked in astonishment at the result.

“Maybe . . .” his voice trailed off and she looked up.   Uh-oh.   Sam knew that look.He was about to offer some kind of wild theory that she was *not* going to like.   Except, look what had happened in the past two days.A pyramid of stone that didn’t register on her equipment.Quantum mirrors.Alternate realities.

And Major Kawalsky.   And the Colonel’s son.

She shivered.How much of the science that had always been her Bible would still be considered accurate in fifty years?Or twenty?   Or maybe-

“Sam?”His worried tone broke through her absorption and she offered him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, my mind wandered.   What are you thinking, Daniel?”

“Well,” he started, “according to your equipment, both on the planet and here, the pyramid doesn’t exist.   Right?”

“Right.”

“What if there’s something on the planet that keeps the pyramid in existence, so to speak, but that something isn’t here, on Earth.So then there would be nothing to keep the pieces of the pyramid in existence on this planet.”

Sam stared at him, her mouth open as she tried to assimilate this . . . theory.Finally, she snapped it shut, astonishment escaping in a breath of laughter.   “Daniel, that’s . . . are you saying that you believe these pieces are actually ceasing to exist physically, thereby confirming the accuracy of my equipment that has never recognized their existence?”Even as she said the words, she could feel her brain beginning a slow spin.

Daniel looked a bit uncomfortable in the face of her incredulity but the jut of his chin warned Sam that she wasn’t going to be able to dissuade him easily.

“Daniel,” she started again.

“I know this is your field,” he interrupted, “but just bear with me for a minute, please.If I remember my high school physics correctly, the first law of thermodynamics says that matter and energy can’t be created or destroyed.   They can only change form, right?”

Sam nodded.“The law of conservation.And what you’re suggesting-”

As much as he hated interrupting, Daniel couldn’t let her finish.He had to make his point before she could marshall all of the standard arguments against him.

“Sam, isn’t it true that quantum theory violates many of the rules of traditional physics?”

Okay, who was supposed to be the hard scientist here?   Sam stared at her teammate, almost afraid to ask him to explain.But he had out-thought her in her own field before.   Perhaps he really had something she could use in her efforts to understand what was happening with the pyramid.   Besides, simple curiosity would not let her ignore him.

“Yes, Daniel, it does.   Where are you going with this?”

“Maybe all this has something do with the quantum mirror.Why is it *in* that pyramid?   Maybe the pyramid really belongs in an alternate reality.That could be why your equipment isn’t registering it.”

He knew before he said it that the theory was flawed.   Kawalsky and Charlie were also from an alternate reality but Dr. Frazier had had no difficulty when she checked them out with her medical equipment.Nonetheless, Daniel thought he might be on the right track.

Some small part of Sam’s mind realized that she was doing her guppy imitation again.But-but how else was she supposed to react to this . . . hell, she couldn’t even call it a leap in logic.Logic had nothing to do with this!

“Daniel, there are so many arguments I could offer against that theory, I don’t know where to begin.   Can we just look at the simple scale between the size of that pyramid in relation to the size of the quantum mirror?   Yet you-”

“I’m just thinking right now, Sam.   Just theories, no proofs.”

How many times had Sam been left speechless by Daniel’s theories?This time was going right to the top of the list.

The abrupt ring of the telephone cut through the turmoil in her brain.Almost grateful for the interruption, she snatched up the receiver.

“Captain Carter.”

Daniel watched her with only half of his attention, running through ideas in his mind.He knew what he was proposing sounded outrageous but-

“Yes, sir,” she said.   “We’ll be right there.”

Sam hung up and looked at him.   The General wants us in the briefing room, now.”

~*~

As they entered the briefing room, the first sight that met their eyes was Major Kawalsky, sitting near one end of the large table.   He was eyeing Teal’c at the opposite end of the table with unmistakable wariness.

“Major,” Sam said immediately.

Kawalsky nodded and some of the tension in the air dissipated.“Captain, Dr. J.”

Daniel smiled.“I’m glad you were able to join us.”Notwithstanding the extra guard by the door, it seemed that Dr. Frazier’s tests had confirmed the Major’s identity.Not that the archeologist had ever doubted it.

He sat down next to Kawalsky, deliberately choosing a chair between the soldier and the Jaffa, and noticed that Sam went around the table to sit on the opposite side, slightly closer to Teal’c.He looked down at the table to hide his amusement.   That had been all very polite,   But Daniel couldn’t blame Kawalsky for his response to Teal’c.   Before coming through the quantum mirror, his only knowledge of the Jaffa was as an enemy leading the invasion of his world.

As General Hammond entered the room, both Kawalsky and Carter started to rise, but he waved them back down and took his usual seat at the head of the table.

“We can get started.   However, Major Ferretti should be joining us shortly.”   He paused to look at Kawalsky who had practically jumped out of his chair.   “You have something to say, Major?”

Obviously excited but trying to control it, Kawalsky said, “Ferretti, sir?Is that Lou Ferretti?He’s alive?”

Hammond’s eyebrows rose and Sam and Daniel exchanged surprised looks.

“As of 0500 this morning when he and the rest of SG-2 returned from a mission, he was quite alive.”The General’s voice was so dry that Daniel wanted to clear his own throat in sympathy.

“*Ferretti* has SG-2?”   More than surprise in Kawalsky’s voice this time, there was also a touch of indignation.

Well, Daniel thought, that answered a couple of questions no one had thought to ask.With every new surprise that Kawalsky experienced, his sympathy for the man increased.   At least Daniel’s encounter with an alternate reality had been brief and, by necessity, contained.   But Kawalsky was here in this reality to stay.And, while their respective realities might possess many similarities, it was increasingly obvious that there were also many differences.”

“Did I hear my name being taken in vain?” A familiar voice spoke from the door.

Looking from Ferretti to Kawalsky, Daniel knew that his strongest memory of this moment would always be of the gigantic, matching grins on both men’s faces.

However, Ferretti still managed to retain a semblance of discipline.“Sorry I’m late, sir,” he said to the General.

“We’ve just begun, Major.   Take a seat.”

“Yes, sir.”Ferretti slid into the chair beside Sam so that he and Kawalsky were facing each other across the table.

Daniel ran a deliberate hand over his mouth to hide his grin.Clearly, both men were itching to burst into conversation but they knew better.

“After giving this matter a great deal of thought,” Hammond said, “I’ve decided to allow SG-1 to return to PXR 512-” He paused again when Daniel straightened in his seat, and gave the archeologist a smile, “to see if they can answer any of the questions they discovered during their original mission.”

“However,” he continued, looking at them one by one, “due to the irregularities that were discovered on the planet during the first mission, SG-2 will be accompanying SG-1.And, although the final test results on Major Kawalsky haven’t come in yet, Dr. Frazier is confident that he is, in fact, the genuine article.   Having spent several hours last night debriefing Major Kawalsky, I’ve come to the same conclusion.   Therefore, and because he is the only one who knows exactly where the room containing the quantum mirror is located in the pyramid, Major Kawalsky will also be a part of this mission.”   Kawalsky stirred in his chair and the General shot a sharp look at him.

“Because we still need to finalize certain matters, Major Ferretti will be in charge of this mission.”   Hammond’s voice was firm, leaving no room for discussion.

Everyone looked up at this.

“What about Jack?” Daniel said, although he suspected that he already knew the answer.

The General shook his head.   “Dr. Frazier believes that it would be best if Colonel O’Neill remains on base for now.However,” he glanced at the two Majors, “he has requested that both Major Ferretti and Major Kawalsky report to him in the infirmary as soon as this briefing is over.   And when he has finished with the Majors, he wishes to speak with both Captain Carter and Teal’c.”

Yes, this was all sounding very much like what O’Neill had told Daniel in the infirmary.Once again, he felt a faint stir of apprehension at the thought of returning to the planet without Jack.And, once again, the archeologist firmly squashed the feeling.   Jack was needed here.End of story.

Despite his concern for his friend, Daniel couldn’t help but notice Kawalsky’s faint frown.Although the archeologist’s grasp of military etiquette was still nebulous, he did recall that Kawalsky had held the rank of Major longer than Ferretti.   Which would mean, if Daniel remembered correctly, that though both men now held the same rank, Kawalsky had-or should have-some kind of seniority.And that, the archeologist realized with fresh amusement, might explain Kawalsky’s expression at hearing Ferretti would be in charge. __

“Sir,” Carter said eagerly, “are we authorized to bring back the quantum mirror?”

Clearly, it was a prize she couldn’t wait to get her hands on.Once all the fall-out from Daniel’s trip to an alternate reality, the shutdown of the Stargate program, SG-1’s disobedience of orders and resulting saving-the-world-from-Apophis’-invasion had settled, the SGC had considered the possibility of returning to P3R 233 to study, and perhaps bring back, the quantum mirror.   But instead, as soon as Teal’c had explained about the warning symbol the Gou’ald left behind, the planet had been locked out of their computers.

But they had no such concern now and Sam couldn’t hide her eagerness.

Kawalsky spoke unexpectedly.   “Excuse me, sir.Can I ask a question?”

Hammond nodded and the Major looked at Carter.“How do you expect to bring it back, Captain?”

Sam returned his look with raised eyebrows.   “”We can always use the MALP, load the mirror on that.”

Kawalsky snorted.“You’re kidding, right?It’ll never fit.”

Daniel leaned forward with growing interest.   “Major, the quantum mirror I went through was less than six feet high and about two feet wide.   That’s the only size that we’re aware of.”

“Ohhh.” Kawalsky’s expression cleared.   “Well, I’m sorry to tell you, Captain Carter, but the quantum mirror on 512 is at least double that size-”

“What!” Sam exclaimed.

“-not to mention part of the wall.”

“What!”This time the exclamation came from Daniel.

The Major nodded.“I admit, I didn’t spend much time in that cave, uh, room, but I did take a quick look at the mirror.I don’t know how it was done, maybe it’s fused somehow, but it’s definitely attached to the wall.”

Sam started to ask a question but Daniel didn’t hear it, too caught up in this newest puzzle.Did the quantum mirror come in various sizes?Or was the mirror on PXR 512 different?And if it was different, *why* was it different?

How would the quantum mirror work, when the back of it was fused to the wall of the pyramid?And just how had the quantum mirror in Kawalsky’s reality been able to send Kawalsky and Charlie through the stone wall of the pyramid to end up in that room?   Was the stone behind the mirror something other than stone?

The questions were coming almost faster than Daniel could assimilate them, but above and beyond the questions he could feel fresh excitement welling up.Maybe his ‘outlandish’ theory that had shaken Sam so badly had just found a bit of support.Maybe.

“Where is the room located which contains this mirror?” Teal’c said.

Kawalsky studied him momentarily.   His gaze still held a faint wariness but there was no hint of it in his response.

“It’s on the east side of the pyramid, about twenty paces from the junction with the south wall.”

The Jaffa returned the Major’s look, his own expression unreadable.   “I passed that location on two occasions.I saw no opening in either the south or east walls of the pyramid.”

Hammond’s eyes narrowed.“None at all, Teal’c?”

“None, General Hammond.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Kawalsky whose weathered features flushed.“I’m telling you, it’s there.I brought Charlie through the mirror into a large empty room.There was a tunnel that I followed and it opened up to the outside, right where I said.”His gaze hardened as he looked at the Jaffa.

“You just missed it.”

“I did not,” Teal’c responded matter-of-factly.

“The hell, you say!”

“That’s enough!” Hammond snapped.

“Sir, if I may,” Sam started.   The General glared at the bristling Kawalsky, then nodded.

“It’s possible,” she said, “that there’s some kind of device that hides the entrance to the tunnel from the outside.   But, maybe, when the mirror is activated from inside the room, the device triggers an opening in the tunnel that allows access outside the pyramid.”

It was just a theory.   But it allowed for both Major Kawalsky and Teal’c to be correct.

And it succeeded in lowering the temperature in the room several degrees.Daniel considered her words, adding her theory to the others knocking around inside his head.   Had they ever visited another planet that held so many questions?Well, there *had* been Ernest’s planet.But even so, PXR 512 tantalized him as few other worlds had.

 “If that’s the case,” Hammond said slowly, “there would be no way to locate the entrance from outside the structure.”

“I don’t know about ‘no way,’ sir,” Sam responded with a smile at SG-1’s resident archeologist.   “I imagine that Daniel is familiar with a number of tricks that the ancient peoples of earth-and elsewhere-used to hide things from strangers.”

Daniel considered her words and nodded.   “There were several common methods used to keep out all but the chosen from burial chambers and similar rooms.   I could check around the area to see if any of those methods might have been employed by the builders of this pyramid.”

Had the ancient Aztecs built hidden chambers in their pyramids?Daniel didn’t think so.   He hadn’t come across any information along that line during his late night research.

But if the people who built the pyramid hadn’t included any hidden chambers, yet the chamber still existed (and a living, breathing Kawalsky certainly seemed to indicate that it *did* exist), then how did the chamber itself come to be?

And *why* did it contain a quantum mirror?   

The possible answers quickened Daniel’s heartbeat.

“Dr. Jackson?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Do you believe that you’ll be able to find a way to this room in the pyramid containing Major Kawalsky’s quantum mirror?”

Daniel glanced around the table, seeing curiosity, interest, excitement, and, from Ferretti, a touch of amusement, although that seemed to be directed at Kawalsky.Nowhere did he see anything other than support, and the realization warmed him.

“I’ll do my best, General.”

That won a smile from Hammond.   “That’s all I ask from any of my people.   Very well.   SG’s -1 and -2, gear up.You leave at 0900 hours.”

Daniel made a face as he glanced at his watch.   That left him barely a half hour to decide what books to bring with him.Not a lot of time.Leaving Sam and Teal’c still talking to the General, he hastily exited the room.

But he was brought up short at the bottom of the stairwell when Majors Kawalsky and Ferretti faced off in front of him.   Blinking, he looked from one soldier to the other and was startled by their mutually forbidding expressions.   

What was going on here?

The two men eyed each other for a long minute.   Then Ferretti shook his head, his expression grim.“I’m gone less than 24 hours and look what the cat dragged in.From another fuckin’ reality, no less.”

Kawalsky scowled.   “Look who’s talking.No sooner am I offed by a slimy snake-and where the hell were you in all of that-when you jump right into my boots to take over my team.”

Suddenly, both men burst into laughter and began pounding each other on the back.

Daniel winced at their enthusiasm.   They were going to be sporting some impressive bruises tomorrow.But neither one seemed concerned about that.

“Excuse me, Majors, could I get by?”

Still laughing, they made room for him to pass by.   As Daniel hurried down the corridor, he 

could hear a torrent of questions, explanations, more questions, happy insults, and bursts of merriment continuing for as long as he was within earshot.Once safely out of sight, he shook his head, chuckling softly.

“Kawalsky *and* Ferretti, together again.   I wonder if the SGC will survive.”

~*~

O’Neill was pulled from his thoughts by a quiet commotion just outside the infirmary door.He glanced up to see Kawalsky and Ferretti sidle into the room and he was surprised to feel his lips curving upward.   Damn, but it was good to see Kawalsky again.   The sight of him and Ferretti walking side by side, in one of their interminable wranglings or bent on who knows what kind of skullduggery, had rarely failed to entertain him.   Except during that endless, aching period after Charlie’s death, before the Stargate, Daniel, and Abydos.

He gave himself a mental shake.   This was no time for wool-gathering, O’Neill.

His lifted hand brought them quickly to his side.   Kawalsky looked at the sleeping boy and Jack was pleased to see his expression soften.   When all the current craziness was behind them, he had a lot of questions for the Major about Charlie’s life in that alternate reality.   He also had to figure out how in the hell he could ever thank the soldier for saving his son.   Jack doubted if he could ever do an adequate job of that, but he was damn well going to give it his best shot.

“Majors,” he said to them.

“Sir,” they echoed softly, then Kawalsky said, “How’s LC doing, Colonel?”

“LC?” Jack repeated.

Kawalsky grinned.   “Sorry, sir.It’s a joke me and Charlie have with each other.He’s   LC, Little Charlie, and I’m BC, Big Charlie.”

Well, that was one way to keep the two separate, O’Neill thought.

He nodded toward the machines monitoring his son. “The doc said his vitals are getting stronger.   She thinks he’s going to be waking up for good soon.”

“I’m really glad to hear that, sir,” Kawalsky said softly.

“Yeah.”Jack looked at his sleeping son, and thought again of his team going back to that damn planet without him.Rarely had he felt so torn.Leaving Charlie right now was too horrific to imagine.But the thought of his team going off on a mission without him, worse, a mission to a planet that had already proven to be out of the ordinary, left him with a knot in his gut the size of an asteroid.

How in the hell could he have chosen between his son and his team?He didn’t know, but he had still been furious when Frazier and Hammond had taken his right to choose away from him.

So Jack was extremely grateful at the sight of the weathered features of these two very experienced soldiers. 

“Hammond’s briefed you?”

The pair exchanged glances and Jack was mildly surprised when Kawalsky gave the floor, so to speak, to Ferretti, who looked equally surprised.But surprise did not keep Ferretti from answering.

“Yes, sir.SG-2 and Major Kawalsky are returning to PXR 512 with SG-1 to do some more tests on the pyramid you found there.”

“You’ve read SG-1’s reports?”   Jack felt a twinge of guilt when he spoke.He hadn’t filed any report yet.   He’d been in the infirmary since they returned, focused on his son.All Ferretti had been able to read were the reports from Carter, Daniel and Teal’c.

Not ‘all,’ he thought irritably.   Don’t be an ass by belittling those reports, O’Neill.Both Carter and Daniel had undoubtedly included pages and pages of excited scientific and archeological and historical theories, suppositions and maybe’s in their reports.   But Carter would also have covered the potential military issues.And Teal’c, of course, would have done the same, only more exhaustively, yet, somehow, more succinctly.

“Yes, sir,” both the Majors echoed, and Ferretti added, “Don’t worry, sir.We’ll bring ‘em all back in one piece.”

“As far as I could tell, there was nothing alive on that planet except for that damn jungle and us,” Jack said.   “But I still think there may be something there.”

Ferretti frowned.So did Kawalsky, but there was also a new alertness in his expression.   

“Maybe there’s something to Captain Carter’s theory of stealth technology on that planet, sir.”

“Maybe,” O’Neill said, pleased by the man’s quick grasp of the possibilities.No doubt about it.This was the real Kawalsky.

Ferretti looked from one to the other and his eyes narrowed.“Hell, sir, are we talking about hostiles hidden by some kind of advanced technology?”

Jack shrugged.“With Carter’s equipment not working, there’s no way to know what may be on that planet.The General’s okayed a return mission so you’re going.”

He winced inwardly.   Okay, that hurt, saying ‘you’ instead of ‘we’.   But he pushed on.   

“It may be nothing,” he said.   “But it may be something.   Stay alert.”

They nodded, their “Yes, sir,” coming almost simultaneously.

“And one other thing.”   O’Neill deliberately let the silence draw out as he met the gaze of first Kawalsky, then Ferretti.  “If anything happens to any member of my team, I promise that you will both spend the rest of your careers posted to the most god-awful spot I can find on this planet.Is that clear?” 

Ferretti gulped audibly, Kawalsky swallowed visibly.   Their simultaneous, “Yes, sir” sounded considerably less enthusiastic this time.

Jack nodded, satisfied that they were taking him seriously.   “Dismissed.”

As they departed, O’Neill was pleased to note their slightly drooping shoulders.He had no doubt that SG-1 would be taken care of to the absolute limit of both Majors’ abilities.Of course, that would also have been the case without his threat.   But early in his career, Jack had discovered that a threat, judiciously applied, could provide a little extra incentive, especially when the threat was genuine.

Teal’c, of course, would have been insulted if he had overheard the conversation.Ordinarily, he was more than capable of handling almost any kind of danger.   But this planet had raised the hairs on the back of O’Neill’s neck and he wanted extra security for his team.   Besides, Jack’s warning to Kawalsky and Ferretti had not been made with the Jaffa in mind.

Although he knew and appreciated Carter’s brilliance in her field (though he was damned if he’d ever admit it), Jack also knew better than anyone her lack of combat experience.   Granted, it was a lack that the past year and a half of gate travel had been filling in admirably.Nonetheless, he would have raised the roof if Hammond had permitted the remaining members of SG-1 to return to that damned planet alone.   With Ferretti and, now, Kawalsky, accompanying them, SG-1 would have the support of the most savvy, experienced soldiers on the base, apart from O’Neill himself.

It would have to do, he thought irritably.   It just damn well better be enough.

Of course, all the military experience in the world couldn’t equip someone to handle a certain archeologist.   That would be up to Sam and Teal’c.

Hard on the heels of that thought, Jack saw Carter and Teal’c enter the infirmary and make a beeline toward him.   As they reached him, both looked at Charlie.

“He’s doing better,” Jack said, before they could ask.   “Look, I’m not happy about you guys going back to that planet while I stay here, but the General’s overruled me.”

“I will remain alert, O’Neill.   No harm will come to SG-1.”

Jack knew that Teal’c would give his life to protect Carter and Daniel.That wasn’t an issue and he wanted the alien to know that.“To be honest, Teal’c, if you weren’t going along I doubt if the General would permit a return mission.”

The Jaffa nodded in acknowledgment.

“Captain, you’re C.O. of the team on this mission.   I know Teal’c will support you but . . .” O’Neill scratched his jaw as he tried to decide how to phrase his concern.   But he couldn’t think of any way to say it except to say just what he was thinking.

“Hell, Carter, you know what Daniel’s like.   If, for any reason, you need to split up the team, make sure that either you or Teal’c stay with him.   You are not to let Daniel go on off his own, no matter what.Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” she said firmly.

“Teal’c, if you and Daniel happen to be on your own, then I expect you to do whatever’s necessary to keep the two of you safe.”

“I understand, O’Neill.   However, I suspect that Daniel Jackson will not.”

“That’s too bad.I want all three of you back in one piece or I’ll tear you apart myself, understood?”

Teal’c’s eyebrow rose high but he only nodded again.   Carter looked more impressed.   Of course, she couldn’t snap O’Neill’s back like a twig, as a certain Jaffa was capable of doing.

“Yes, sir.”

Jack looked at them, wishing he was better with words.   But he had said what he needed to say, so he waved them away.

“All right.Good luck with your puzzle.”

“Thank you, sir.   We’ll see you in about thirty hours.”

When they were gone, he sat back and sighed.   Damn, he hated this.   All the unanswered questions, all the potential danger, and him stuck earth-side.   He hated just about everything that had happened in the last three days.

He caught up his wandering thoughts sharply.   Not everything.   Absolutely *not* everything.

Jack looked at his sleeping son, emotion tightening his throat.He would happily have endured the past three days and much, much worse in order to have this new reality, as Daniel called it.Here and now, *this* was all that mattered.

He blinked back a disobedient tear and leaned over the small figure of his son, tenderly stroking the soft bangs back from his forehead.“Rest easy, buddy,” he whispered.“Dad’s right here and I promise you it’s all going to be okay.”

~*~

Daniel knelt on the floor of the gate room, struggling to fit his last reference book into his pack.

A large hand suddenly closed over the top of his pack and yanked the sides together so that he could cinch it tight.   Then the archeologist looked up to see Kawalsky grinning at him.

“Some things never change, huh, Doc?”

Daniel smiled as he rose.   “I suppose not.How are you doing?”

“Bored with sitting around,” the Major said promptly.   “And ready for some action.”

“I really don’t know how much action there will be.   Except for a little earthquake and a couple of unexpected visitors,” Daniel waggled his eyebrows, “the planet was quiet.”

Kawalsky snorted.   “Well, with Ferretti in charge, there’s no telling what the hell is going to happen.”He snuck a quick, furtive glance up at the control room but no one was watching them.   “It’s a good thing SG-1 has already been on the planet, otherwise Ferretti would probably lead us all to hell and gone.”

“I heard that,” came a voice from behind them.

Kawalsky turned around to face the just arrived SG-2 and offered Ferretti a patently insincere smile.   “You were supposed to.But that doesn’t mean it’s not the truth.”

Daniel shook his head as he moved out of the range of fire.   This was all sounding strangely familiar, and the realization took him momentarily back to the cave on Abydos where they had hidden from Ra.   Kawalsky was right.   Some things never changed.

As Sam and Teal’c entered the gate room, her first sight was of Majors Kawalsky and Ferretti bickering about something.   She saw Daniel shaking his head on the other side of the pair and swallowed a smile.   Whatever it was, she didn’t want to know.

As Sam moved past the Majors to stand beside the archeologist, she heard Kawalsky’s stage whisper to Ferretti-

“You’re just eatin’ this up with a spoon aren’t you?   Being in charge.   I don’t know what the hell the General’s thinking.”

Ferretti returned the look with a broad smirk.   “What can I say?   He knows quality when he sees it.”

“More likely he’s been infected by an alien virus,” Kawalsky groused under his breath.

The Stargate kawooshed open and their squabble was interrupted by Hammond’s voice from the control room.“SG’s -1 and -2, you have a go.”

Ferretti turned to his team.   “Barnett and Pollock, move out.   Ski, you wanna go first or last?”

Kawalsky snorted.   “I’m not following your sorry butt!” he tossed out as he jogged up the ramp after the other two.

Ferretti shook his head but Sam noted that his grin was just as broad as Kawalsky’s.“After you, SG-1,” he said.

~*~

The planet was just as hot and humid as Daniel remembered.And SG-2, especially Ferretti and Kawalsky, were just as impressed at the sight of the pyramid as SG-1 had been, especially considering that Sam’s equipment still refused to register its existence.

Ferretti accepted Sam’s recommendation to follow the same path as SG-1 had traveled before.But this time, thanks to SG-1’s (and particularly Teal’c’s) previous handiwork with their machetes, the path was no longer overgrown and they were able to make better time.

By Daniel’s estimate, they were half-way to the pyramid before they had to take a break, thanks to Lieutenant Duncan’s too-close encounter with a waist-deep mud hole.

Because SG-1 hadn’t found any water on the planet last time, every one was carrying extra containers.   Even so, it took a while for Duncan to get clean enough to change into dry clothes.   The rest of their party was entertained by the continuing bickering between the two Majors while Sam herself double checked the extra equipment she had brought along.Although focused on what she was doing, she could still hear the men talking.

“What was that shit you said in the gate room about me leading you to hell and gone?” Ferretti demanded.

Kawalsky snorted.   “You may’ve forgotten the last time you tried leading me someplace but I haven’t!”

“What’re you talking about?”

“The night I made Major?   After the party you wanted to show me this great bar you’d found!”

The silence drew out, long enough for Sam to turn her head to see what was happening.She was startled to see Major Lou Ferretti’s weather beaten features as red as any she had ever seen.

“Yeah, well,” Lou finally mumbled, “I was drunk as skunk.What the hell were you thinking, letting me lead?”

“Don’t give me that shit.   You kept boastin’ about how you held your liquor better’n me and where’d we end up?Huh?”

Ferretti looked around at the interested faces watching them and, if possible, his flush deepened.   “Yeah, I remember.Okay, so that was *one* time!‘Sides, I’m sober today.”

Kawalsky chortled.   “Oh, yeah, that makes me feel *so* much better!”

Sam shook her head and tuned them out as she focused on one of the new pieces of equipment that she had brought along for this trip.   Daniel dropped down beside her.

“Are you getting all of this?”

“I’m trying not to,” she admitted.

“What’s that?” he said, pointing to the piece of equipment in her hands.

Before Sam could answer, Lieutenant Mike Duncan appeared, kneeling down on her other side.He was gesturing with a small, hand-held piece of equipment that reminded Daniel of one of Sam’s favorite gizmos, as Jack liked to call them, and his hazel eyes were bright with excitement.

“It’s amazing, Captain.   I’ve tried everything I know and nothing works.   According to our equipment, that pyramid doesn’t exist!”

Daniel swallowed his smile at the officer’s youthful enthusiasm, glad when Sam responded matter-of-factly. 

“You’re right, Lieutenant.   I just hope that when we try out our more advanced equipment on the pyramid itself, we might get something.”

Listening, Daniel recognized a note in her voice that he rarely heard.Sam didn’t think her equipment was going to work.And, if it didn’t, she didn’t know what else to try.

As much as he would like to have encouraged her, Daniel still recalled the complete failure of all of her equipment at the SGC to get anything from the crumbling pieces of the pyramid that Sam had brought back.Maybe that would change when the tests were done off-world, on the pyramid itself.   But it was clear, to Daniel, at least, that Sam didn’t think so.

“Majors, Captain Carter,” Teal’c said unexpectedly.   

Everyone glanced toward him.   Daniel saw Kawalsky actually opening his mouth to respond when they stiffened, experiencing what Teal’c’s sharper senses had already detected.

The ground stirred beneath their feet, rolling, then surging upwards.Everyone staggered, a few falling to their knees.

But just as quickly, the earth settled back, quieting before they had time to react.They were left staring at each other, braced awkwardly in frozen positions.

“Well,” Ferretti drawled.   “That was fun.”

Sam looked at Daniel and Teal’c.   “I wonder if it was related to the earthquake when we were here last time.”

“Maybe an aftershock,” Daniel offered.

“Maybe.”She was frowning, a clear indication that she was thinking furiously.   “This time we brought along equipment to monitor seismic activity, but I wasn’t going to set it up until we reached the pyramid.”

“How much further?” Kawalsky demanded.

“We’re more than half-way,” Sam responded, trading glances with both Kawalsky and Ferretti.

“This was just a little tremor,” she said slowly.   “And we only experienced the one earthquake last time.”

Kawalsky nodded.   “Odds are, we’ll be fine.”He looked at Ferretti, who also nodded.

“All right, people,” Ferretti said.   “Let’s saddle up and move out.”

Somehow, Daniel wasn’t surprised when Kawalsky immediately begun humming the theme song from the old television western, “Rawhide.”   The archeologist smiled at the sound.   It seemed as if those two were not going to quit trying to one-up each other any time soon.

But if Jack couldn’t be here, he was glad that both Kawalsky and Ferretti were along to support SG-1, their adolescent hi-jinks notwithstanding.

He *really* hoped Jack was okay.

As they trekked through the jungle, Sam was surprised by Daniel’s unusual silence.Granted, for several weeks after the fiasco on Shyla’s planet the archeologist had been withdrawn, until Colonel O’Neill was finally able to break through to him.   But here on PXR 512, Daniel had been more like his old self.And even after they had taken Kawalsky and Charlie back to the SGC, Daniel had not hesitated to push Sam into opening up, and shortly thereafter proceeded to dumbfound her with his latest off-the-wall theory.

Okay, she was being too harsh.   How many times had she witnessed Daniel’s off-the-wall theories proven right?It was just . . . hard to follow his line of reasoning when there was no line to follow.

For as long as she could remember, Sam had known that she was extremely bright.It was nothing to boast about; it was simply how her brain was wired together.   Her intelligence had served her-not to mention her country-well over the years.   Most recently, it had served the SGC very well.   She was used to the modern scientific approach, following logical deductive methods in an effort to test and prove her theories.

But so much of what they encountered going through the Stargate defied all of Sam’s logical, scientific reasoning.

Add to the mix one genius archeologist/anthropologist/linguist who preferred the intuitive route to the logical, and whose intuition had so often proved superior to tried-and-tested scientific method . . . and Sam sometimes thought it was a miracle she hadn’t developed an inferiority complex.

She shook her head at herself as she looked at the aforesaid genius archeologist/etc. walking immediately in front of her.   It wasn’t Daniel’s fault that he was so brilliant, nor was it his fault that it was so easy for him to think outside of the box.Sam knew that she needed to learn to do that as well.

But it was hard.It went against all of her education and training, not to mention her own natural tendencies.

Really, she thought, Earth was fortunate that it had been Daniel who stumbled through that first quantum mirror on P3R 233, rather than any other member of SG-1.He was the only one among them with the training and ability to-Sam grinned ruefully-to think outside the box in order to recognize what was happening, and then be able to convince everyone to help him return to *his* reality to warn Earth.

Most extraordinary of all, he had been able to convince *that* General O’Neill, cynical and hardened and wanting only revenge against the Gou’ald, to give the archeologist their last shot through the gate . . .

That still amazed Sam. 

For Earth in both alternate realities – Daniel’s and the one Kawalsky and Charlie O’Neill had escaped – there had been no last minute deliverance.

It was terrifying to think how close they had come to the same fate here in *their* reality.

Those alternate realities had been so similar to their own, yet both had been destroyed by the Gou’ald.   And how easily the same thing could have-would have-happened to *their* reality.But, fortunately, they’d had Daniel and he-

Sam’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.   She stared in growing disbelief at Daniel moving easily in front of her.Was *that* it?Was *Daniel* the difference?In two realities in which Daniel had not been a part of the SGC, Earth had been destroyed.   In *this* reality, with Daniel part of the SGC, they had been able to stop Apophis’ invasion . . . because of Daniel.   Because of what had happened to him and because of what he had brought back through that quantum mirror.   And because he refused to be silenced, despite the overwhelming odds against him.

She swallowed, vaguely aware that she was shivering.   This was . . . this was too big to consider now.Later, back on Earth, when she had the time and privacy to think this through . . . she would have to consider the implications, both present and future.

She would have to, Sam realized, think outside the box.   Big time.

~*~

They reached the pyramid early in the afternoon.   Although astonished by its size, Ferretti didn’t waste any time assigning his team to check out the perimeter.   Teal’c and Kawalsky joined them and Daniel found himself once again cooling his heels on the edge of the jungle, with only Sam for company.

Daniel couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed but was mostly resigned.With Jack stuck earth-side, he had expected that both Sam and Teal’c would be even more protective of their archeologist than usual.Add to that mix a couple of Majors and Daniel guessed he should be grateful that they hadn’t made him stay by the Stargate until they were satisfied with their security.

Actually, he felt sorry for Sam.   He didn’t doubt that she would much prefer to be off with the others rather than stuck here on babysitting duty.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around his chest, gazing longingly at the pyramid so tantalizingly close yet still out of reach.   It was strange, he realized.   He hadn’t forgotten what an incredible structure it was while back on Earth.   But it was even more amazing to look upon in person.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed as he noticed something . . . new?   Had the northern end of the pyramid been so badly damaged during their first visit?   No.As he recalled, the surface had shown significant but normal deterioration due to millennia of exposure to the elements.But the underlying structure had been, he was certain, intact.

But that was no longer the case.

What had happened?

Given their brief experience with this planet, an earthquake was probably the most obvious answer.   But it would have had to have been a major earthquake to do so much damage.

Daniel mentally replayed their hike from the Stargate in his mind.Just as Sam had noted during their first mission, he could not recall any visual evidence that a significant earthquake had occurred in the last day or two.

He chewed his lip in thought.   If it *had* been an earthquake, SG-1 and -2 needed to know.But he was afraid that if they knew the planet had experienced a major earthquake, they would immediately head back to the Stargate.

The damage to the pyramid argued for a natural disaster such as an earthquake.But there was no corresponding evidence anywhere on the planet.

It was just the pyramid, he mused.

So maybe it wasn’t an earthquake.

Which begged the question-what else could have done so much localized damage?

As he continued to study the northern end of the pyramid, he suddenly straightened at a new realization.

The northern end wasn’t just significantly more damaged since they had first laid eyes on it but . . . no, Jackson, that can’t be right.   But as he stared, comparing his memory with what he saw before him now, he couldn’t escape the conclusion that there seemed to be *less* of the actual pyramid on that end then before.

Ridiculous.It was just an optical illusion caused by the further collapse of the stone structure.

That was the logical answer.

Except that what little they had discovered about this pyramid didn’t seem to have any relationship with logic.

“Daniel.”

He started, whipping his head around to see Sam watching him with a slight frown.

“What?”

She gestured.   “They’re signaling us.”

Daniel turned to see that SG-2 had gathered near the southeast corner of the pyramid.   Kawalsky and Teal’c were just emerging from the jungle that grew to within several yards of the structure at this point.   As he gazed at them, he saw Ferretti making a large come-along gesture.

Temporarily shelving the pyramid’s newest twist, Daniel looked eagerly to Sam.

“After you,” she smiled.

When they reached the southeast junction of the pyramid, Ferretti said, “This one’s gonna be up to you, Doc.   Teal’c was right.   We can’t find anything but solid rock.”   He shot a look at Kawalsky as he spoke, who responded with a scowl.

“Then you weren’t looking.”

“The hell I wasn’t.”   He glanced at his team.“Barnett, Pollock, move out.”The two men nodded and headed in opposite directions.Then he turned back.

“You said the tunnel entrance was about twenty paces from the corner, right?” he said to Kawalsky.   “Well, see for yourself.”

Kawalsky led the way.   Twenty paces down they all stopped to study the blank stone wall.   It was as massive and dense and unyielding as the rest of the pyramid with no evidence of any kind of opening on its surface.

“What the hell?” Kawalsky demanded.   He backed away and turned around, studying his surroundings.

“This *is* where I brought LC, uh, Charlie, out.   I know ‘cause I marked it by that tree.”

They all followed his pointing finger to see a huge tree leaning perilously in their direction.

So the soldier hadn’t been mistaken.   Daniel had thought as much but this confirmed it.He moved closer to the wall, running his hand lightly over the stone.

“What’re you lookin’ for, doc?” Ferretti said.   “Can we help?”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Daniel returned, “so, no, thanks.”

It all looked and felt perfectly solid.   Even the seams where the giant blocks of stone joined together appeared perfectly normal.

The rest of the world disappeared as Daniel focused all of his senses on the massive wall.From the bottom edge of the wall to as high as he could reach, the archeologist checked in minute detail for anything that might be *something*.   

The stone was rough beneath his fingers but weathered, leaving behind a faint powder that he could feel.   And that was all he could feel.   There was nothing  to indicate any kind of entrance, hidden or otherwise.

Wait a minute.

Daniel lifted his hand off the wall and wiped it on his pants, before bringing it back to the stone.

“This is different,” he murmured to himself.

“What is?” Sam asked behind him.

“The wall is covered with a fine dust except for here.”   He eyed the immense block more closely.   “There’s no dust on this stone.   It’s clean.”

“What else?” Kawalsky said eagerly.

Daniel shook his head.   “Nothing else.But this block is different.”

Not in size, not in appearance, but the slightly smoother, cleaner surface was different from the rest of the area the archeologist had been studying.

After several more minutes of examination, Daniel placed his hand in the center of the block and pushed.   As he expected, nothing happened.   Turning his head, he gave the others a weak grin.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t-”

He would have fallen flat on his face except for Teal’c’s lightning reflexes that snatched him away from the pyramid and held him upright.

Blinking, Daniel felt himself being placed firmly back on his feet.“Uh, thank you, Teal’c,” he managed, before looking to see what had happened.

Oh.

The massive stone block he had been leaning against was gone.

Not moved.

Gone.

As in vanished.

Leaving behind a huge opening into the pyramid.

Everyone stared.Even Kawalsky, who would have been justified in saying, ‘I told you so,’ remained silent, his eyes as wide as everyone else’s.

Not surprisingly, the unflappable Jaffa was the first to speak.   “A visual hallucination, Captain Carter?”

Sam abruptly realized that her mouth was open and quickly closed it.“I have no idea,” she admitted.

None of this made any sense.   Everything about this pyramid seemed to defy all the science that she knew.If only she could get some of her damn equipment to work!

“So, what?” Kawalsky demanded.   “We just gonna stand here and look at it?”

Ferretti threw him a look.   “That sounds better than going inside.   What if that damn piece of rock suddenly shows up again and squashes us all?”

Daniel had been thinking furiously for the last minute and now he shook his head.“This isn’t like any kind of trap I’ve ever seen or read about.   I think if we go through this we’ll find ourselves in the tunnel that leads to the room Major Kawalsky found when he came through the quantum mirror.”

Sam’s eyes lit up but she wasn’t about to forget her responsibility.“Teal’c, have you ever seen anything like this?”

“I have not,” the Jaffa said simply.

A quick consensus confirmed that no one had seen anything like this.There was another moment of silence while one Captain and two Majors traded glances.

Daniel sighed and started forward.   “I’ll-”

“No, Daniel Jackson.”   The hand that stopped Daniel was gentle but the strength behind it was unbreakable.“I will go first.”

“Oh, hell!” Ferretti exploded.   “I’ll go first.   Barnett, you and Pollock watch our six.”   He pulled out his flashlight and attached it to his vest before switching it on, then glanced at Kawalsky.   “Major?”

Kawalsky switched on his own flashlight and nodded.   The pair moved slowly through the opening, their weapons ready.Daniel started to follow but Sam stopped him with a gesture.   He sighed again, waited until she had gotten ahead, and followed, hearing Teal and Barnett moving up behind them.

The tunnel was a good four feet wide and . . . Daniel turned his flashlight upwards long enough to estimate it was about seven feet high.It was all smooth stone, obviously not natural.

There were no twists or turns in the tunnel.   It moved straight ahead for fifty feet and terminated abruptly in Kawalsky’s room.

And there was no doubt that it *was* the room Kawalsky had found himself in when he exited the quantum mirror.

For there *was* the quantum mirror.

It looked like the one Daniel remembered on P3R 233.   Except the mirrored surface was approximately fifteen feet high and ten feet wide.And it stood smack up against the far wall.

Point to Kawalsky, the archeologist thought a bit giddily.

Beside him, he heard someone draw in a sharp breath and he wasn’t surprised to see that it was Sam.

“Daniel?” she said softly.

“Apart from its size, it looks very similar to what I went through on 233.”

“You sure, Doc?” Ferretti said.

“Yes, Major, except, as I said, for its size.   This mirror is much larger.”

Ferretti smirked.   “Why am I not surprised?” he asked the world at large, while slanting a look at Kawalsky, who also smirked.

“There appears to be nothing in this room except that device,” Teal’c rumbled.

Daniel looked at his teammate in surprise.   He had been so taken by the sight of this newest version of a quantum mirror, he hadn’t spared a second to look at the room itself.The archeologist felt a twinge of guilt.Maybe Jack was right about Daniel not paying enough attention to his surroundings.   Not that he’d admit it to his C.O.

He looked around the interior of the room with fresh eyes.Thanks to several lanterns, he could see without difficulty, not that there was much to see.   It was large, square box of a room, twenty by twenty by twenty.And completely empty.Except for the mirror.

Shaking his head at himself, Daniel pulled off his backpack and removed his video camera.Just as he was about to start taping, Sam said, “Major Kawalsky, didn’t you say that you used some kind of remote control device to activate the mirror?”

Kawalsky had been walking slowly around the room but stopped when she spoke to him.“Yeah, I did.”

“What did you do with it when you came through?”

His eyebrows rose.   “I’m not sure.I think I, hmm . . .”He looked at the floor before turning slowly back toward the entrance.“I was in a hurry . . .”

There was an understatement, Daniel thought.   The soldier had been fleeing an invading army, carrying a traumatized child, escaping through an alien device that was sending him someplace completely unknown . . . yes, not only had the Major been in a hurry, but he’d had a lot on his mind.

“As soon as we came through,” Kawalsky said, “the mirror thing shut down behind us.”

“Shut down?” Daniel repeated.   “It shut down on its own?”

“Yeah, why?”

The archeologist chewed his lip as he thought back.   “The mirror I went through never shut down.Even after I went through it the first time and landed in that alternate reality, it was still turned on when I went back.Catherine had wanted me to take the remote so that I could activate it again, but it wasn’t necessary.”

Thankfully, it hadn’t been necessary, since the remote had been lost to the invading Jaffa.   Not that they had had time to do anything with it, Daniel thought, as he recalled the last seconds of the base countdown ticking off as he went through the Stargate.

He looked away.  It didn’t matter that *that* reality hadn’t been his.   It had been *a* reality filled with people, a few he’d known but most he hadn’t.None of them had deserved what happened.All Daniel could do for them now was to remember them. 

“I dropped it,” Kawalsky said abruptly.   “I remember.   As I came through I tripped and had to grab onto Charlie.   That’s when I dropped it.”

Immediately, everyone’s gaze dropped down.   Lieutenant Duncan brought over two lanterns and focused them on the floor.Figuring that six military-minded adults could search a floor without his help, Daniel drifted over to the mirror.

He couldn’t be sure in this light, but the surface appeared to be the same as on the mirror he’d discovered on P3R 233-dull gray, almost metallic in appearance, and completely non-reflective.   Yes, it was very like that first mirror.   

Except for its size.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder to see everyone still involved in checking out the floor.A couple more steps brought him up to the wall.   He ran his fingers lightly over the frame, then quickly jerked them away.

Had he imagined that?   Cautiously, he touched the frame again and felt the surface give slightly under the pressure. 

Was that normal?   Daniel didn’t know.He hadn’t touched the frame of the mirror on 233.

The frame also appeared to be made out of some kind of metal, and now that he examined it more closely, he realized that the material was uniformly soft on the surface, giving slightly before reaching a harder layer beneath.

Hmm.

His curiosity growing, Daniel tried to peer behind the frame to see how it had been attached to the wall.   Except there was no *behind* to peer around.

He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry.   Easy, Jackson, he warned himself.Don’t jump to conclusions here.

Daniel checked the entire length of the frame, as far as he could reach, on both sides of the mirror, then knelt on the floor and ran his hand along the edge where it met the frame.

Well, well.

He contemplated the idea with growing excitement.   It was outrageous, Sam would likely have a fit when she heard it . . . yet, the growing awareness in his gut would not leave him.Daniel cleared his throat.

“Sam,” he said quietly.

She turned around.   “What?”

“I don’t think this mirror is attached to the wall.”

Sam frowned.“It has to be.”

“No-I mean, I think the mirror is actually *part* of the wall.”Daniel looked around the large, empty room.“I think that this entire wall, maybe this entire room, is somehow connected to the mirror.”

She was beside him in an instant, her expression one of sheer disbelief.

“Major Kawalsky said that it was fused,” she said as she ran her fingers along what appeared to be the edge of the mirror.

“Actually,” Daniel reminded her, “he said that he didn’t know how it was attached to the wall, just that he thought it was attached, *possibly* fused.”

He sat back and watched her do the same thing he had done just minutes before, astonishment growing in her eyes all the while.

“This material,” she noted as she ran her fingers over the frame, “looks like metal but . . . feels different.   I should take a sample.”

Daniel waited as she fumbled through her pack.   Finally pulled out a small container and what looked like a large pair of tweezers, Sam focused on removing a small piece of the frame.Her body partially blocked Daniel’s sight, but he could hear her muttering, which didn’t bode well for her efforts.

Rising, he moved to her side.   “Can I help?”

She looked up, bewilderment in her eyes.   “It keeps . . . disappearing.”

“What?”Daniel leaned in for a closer look.

“Watch.”Sam carefully pinched off a small piece of the material that made up the frame.   As she lifted it in the air, he clearly saw the material lighten in color and then . . . vanish.

They exchanged astonished looks, then Daniel shook his head.

“Somehow, this doesn’t really surprise me.”

Sam looked at her empty tweezers, then her eyes narrowed in determination.“We’ll see about that.”

Daniel sighed gently to himself.   He had seen this before.   The battle was on.

This was going to take awhile.

In fact, nearly an hour passed before Sam would admit defeat.

By then, everyone had examined the frame of the mirror and come to the same conclusion-not counting Sam’s stubborn abstention-that the quantum mirror was indeed part of the massive stone wall.

As far as the remote control device that controlled the mirror was concerned, no sign could be found of it, not in the room or tunnel or immediately outside.

Despite all of their efforts, the only positive intelligence that they had gained was that the room did not appear to be a trap.   The tunnel had remained open and so had the entrance.

“All right,” Ferretti said finally.   “Captain Carter, unless there’s something else you’d like to try, I think it’s time to check this place out top side.”

Despite her obvious frustration, Sam nodded in agreement.   It was Lieutenant Duncan who argued.

“Major, sir, couldn’t I stay awhile longer?   I’d like to keep trying.”

Ferretti exchanges glanced with Kawalsky who shrugged.   “Duncan, Captain Carter said none of the equipment is working on this place.”

Duncan looked at Sam, then back to his C.O.“I know, sir.I’d just . . . really like to try a bit longer.This is all so . . . so amazing . . .” under Ferretti’s look, his words trailed off.

“We’re leaving, Duncan.   Now.”

“Yes, sir,” came the quiet reply.

As they came out of the tunnel, they were met by Barnett and Pollock.

“Barnett?” Ferretti said.

“All clear, sir.   Haven’t seen so much as a mosquito fly by.”

“Good.”He glanced back at Duncan.   “If we have time later, maybe you can check out that room again before we leave.”

The younger man brightened.   “Thank you, sir.”

“Personally, it’s good to be out of there, again,” Kawalsky drawled

Daniel smiled.“Not much of a cave dweller, are you, Major?”

“I’ll leave that to you, Dr. J,” Kawalsky grinned back.

“So which way, Captain?” Ferretti said.

Sam looked at her younger teammate.   “That’s up to Daniel.   This is his turf.”

“Well, historically, Aztec pyramids were built with the temples on top.The only way to access the temples is by ascending the staircases.”

“Okay,” Ferretti said, “then I guess we head for those honkin’ stairs.”

“Temples?   Plural?” Sam asked as they walked.

“Yes,” Daniel nodded.   “As you noticed, there are two staircases on this pyramid.   One should lead to the temple dedicated to Tlaloc, the Aztec God of rain or celestial water.   The other should lead to the temple dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war.”

Kawalsky slapped the younger man on the back.   “Dr. J, you sure you’re not making up those names?”

That surprised a laugh out of the archeologist.   “Do you really think I could come up with them by myself?”

“If you can, maybe you can do something with Kawalsky’s name,” Ferretti said suddenly.

Lou’s comment triggered another round of insults between the two that continued throughout their hike around to the front of the colossal pyramid.As he looked upon it again, everything else faded for Daniel.

Glancing from one massive staircase to the other, he noted that the closest one, here on the south side, appeared to the most undamaged, the most solid.Ergo, Daniel thought whimsically, the south side would be the best one to tackle.

“Are these temples of equal importance, Daniel Jackson?”

Daniel started and smiled apologetically.   “Actually, no, they’re not, Teal’c.   These-” he pointed to the closest stairs, “should lead us up to the temple of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war.It’s the main temple and should be composed of two rooms, an outer room and an inner room that originally contained an altar.”

“Indeed.”

The archeologist nodded.   “Since the other staircase is in poor condition, I’m not sure we’ll be able to check out that temple.If we’re only able to get inside one of them, I’m glad it’s the one that’s supposed to be most important.” 

A burst of laughter broke through Daniel’s absorption.   He glanced around to see everyone snickering, except Sam, although she wasn’t able to completely hide her grin.

“What is it?” he said.

Sam shook her head.   “You don’t want to know.”She gave Ferretti a stern look, which seemed to roll right off his shoulders.

Still grinning, Ferretti gestured at the pyramid.   “You sure you want to climb that, Doc?   Isn’t there anything at ground level that gets your attention?”

Daniel only smiled.   Though he would love to explore every inch of the pyramid, he knew that wouldn’t be possible.He would never be given that much time.So he intended to focus his attention on at least one, if not both, of the temples at the top of the pyramid.If this pyramid had been built along the same lines as the ones on Earth, any information contained in the pyramid would most likely be found there.

He could feel everyone watching him but he chose to look at Sam, giving her his most supportive smile.   Daniel suspected that she was feeling somewhat insecure without Jack around.However temporary it might be, and regardless of the fact that there were two Majors on the scene who outranked her, for the moment Captain Samantha Carter was C.O. of the SGC’s premiere field unit.

If Jack had been here, Daniel would have been tempted just to start climbing the staircase.But he sensed that wouldn’t be the right move now so he said lightly, “Permission to ascend, Captain?”

Sam laughed and he was pleased to see the tension around her eyes relax.She glanced at Ferretti and Kawalsky standing off to the side.Although General Hammond had put Ferretti in charge of this mission, she knew that Kawalsky, in whatever reality, held seniority.   Playing it safe, she said simply, “Majors?”

Kawalsky hefted his rifle.   “I’ll go up with you, Captain, just to make sure it’s all clear.   Then I’ll leave you to your tests.”

He exchanged glances with Ferretti, who nodded.   “SG-2 will keep the perimeter secured.”   His ready smile flashed again as he gave them a half-salute.“Have a nice trip, SG-1.”

With Sam on one side and Teal’c on the other side, and Kawalsky trailing a few feet behind them, Daniel started up the stairs.   Despite his excitement, he forced himself to keep an easy pace.This was going to be a long haul and they were going to have to take breaks along the way.   There was no need to kill himself, or his teammates, in an effort to get up to the top a few minutes faster.

Daniel studied the stairs as he climbed.   Considering how long they had been exposed to the elements, the stone was still in good condition.   Some stairs were in various stages of decay, some outright crumbling, but overall he was surprised at how well the stone had weathered over the past thousands of years.

How many thousands?   It was just one of the questions rolling around in Daniel’s thoughts.   He felt a surge of frustration akin to Sam’s at her equipment’s inability to get any kind of reading on the pyramid.   But at the same time, this inability allowed his imagination free rein.

Beneath his boots, the stone stairs were firm and unyielding.Clearly, the pyramid existed in this reality.Yet none of Sam’s equipment had been able to yield any information on the structure, not even its very existence.

They could all *see* it.   They could all *feel* it.Yet the best equipment in the most top-secret military installation on Earth continued to insist that the pyramid did not exist.

Then there was the room in the base of the pyramid in which they had discovered the quantum mirror.   *That* definitely had not been part of the architecture of the twin-stair pyramids on earth.Although he knew Sam disagreed, Daniel was convinced that the quantum mirror was actually a part of the wall, though *how* that could be, he had no idea.

And then there was the mysterious, now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t, tunnel entrance leading to the mirror room.   In his years of exploring ancient structures, Daniel had encountered many ways to conceal entrances.   But he was positive that he hadn’t triggered anything when he first examined the wall.   Yet he was equally positive that his examination of the wall and the sudden opening to the tunnel were somehow connected.

Daniel could feel his lungs laboring at the same time he realized that the muscles in his legs were beginning to burn.   He wiped the sweat from his forehead and peered upwards, only to see that they were not yet a third of the way up the great staircase.

Yes, well, he had known it was going to be a work-out.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Teal’c moving easily up the stairs, his breathing as effortless and matter-of-fact as his stride.Daniel wondered how much of that was due to his symbiote and how much to Jaffa endurance.Jack O’Neill, of course, would argue for the Jaffa side.The archeologist smiled to himself.Jack would fight tooth and nail to avoid giving any kind of credit for *anything* to the Gou’ald, even in infant form.

Daniel was abruptly yanked out of his thoughts by the realization that he had misjudged his stride.   He felt his foot miss the next step and, despite himself, started to fall forward.Only to have his fall abruptly halted by a strong arm grabbing his arm.

“Thanks, Teal’c,” he managed, a bit breathlessly.   “I guess I got a little distracted.”

“You are welcome, Daniel Jackson.”

“Everyone okay up there?” Kawalsky called.

On Daniel’s side, Sam had stopped as well.   She, too, was sweating freely and breathing hard.“We’re fine, Major, but I think we should stop for a minute.”

“It’s about time,” the Major groused, dropping unceremoniously on a stair.

Daniel had to agree and sat down without ceremony.   Glancing back the way they had come, and then upwards at how far they still had to go, he marveled anew at the size of this great structure.

Though they still had a long way to climb, the view was breathtaking even from this height.In every direction he looked, the jungle spread out to the horizon, broken up only by occasional clearings.From here, it was impossible to tell if the clearings were natural or man-made.   Equally interesting, Daniel saw no sign of any body of water-no ocean, no lakes, no rivers, nothing.

It was a sight that confirmed the information the UAV had sent back and gave increased weight  to Daniel’s questions.Where had the stone come from to build this great pyramid?   And where was the water?The jungle was incredibly lush and verdant.   There was no sign anywhere of drought conditions.   And yet . . .

There was no sign of life anywhere, neither animal nor more sentient beings.Apart from the pyramid, there appeared to be no other buildings, not even ruins . . . no indications that any beings capable of building such a massive structure had ever lived on this planet.

Nonetheless, the pyramid *did* exist, regardless of what Sam’s equipment claimed.

 “Okay,” Sam said.“I think it’s time we get moving again.”

Daniel recognized a faintly questioning note in her voice when she spoke, and in her expression when she looked at Kawalsky.   But the Major just grinned and shrugged.

“Hell, Captain, I’m just along for the ride.   This is your party.   I’ll let you know if I have a problem with your orders.”

“Yes, sir,” she smiled.

They started their upward trek once again.   Two more rest stops were needed before they finally reached the top.By then, all of them were breathing hard and soaked in perspiration.   Nonetheless, Daniel’s head immediately began swiveling around.

“That,” he said, still somewhat breathless, “should be the temple of Huit-” he coughed.

“Give yourself a minute,” Sam urged as she pulled out her water and offered it to him.

Daniel shook his head and reached for his own.   After a couple of gulps and another minute of deep breathing, he tried again.

“The temple of Huitzilopochtli,” he finished.   “And over there,” he gestured northward, “is the temple of Tlaloc.   If it’s still there.”His eyes narrowed as he studied the artificial terrain surrounding them.

Kawalsky and Teal’c were already roving around the top of the pyramid, skirting broken stones and other rubble.   Sam was tempted to follow them but there was no way she was going to leave Daniel alone.   It was unnerving how often SG-1’s archeologist got into trouble, despite never having anything but the best of intentions.

“Hey, Sam,” he said, suddenly moving away, “I think I see an opening-”

He would have been beyond her reach in an instant but she took a page from the Colonel’s book and grabbed his backpack.

“Wait, Daniel!Where are you going?The temple’s this way.”

“I *know* Sam,” he said in an aggrieved tone.   “I just want to see if there’s a way over to the other temple from up here.If not, I can focus on the temple of Huitzilopochtli.   Otherwise, I’ll need to divide my time.”

Carter noticed Teal’c and Major Kawalsky walking back toward them and released her grip.“All right,” she agreed.“Just be careful, okay?”

She heard his absent acknowledgement as he turned away again, probably unaware-she thought- that Teal’c was following him.

Sam watched him for a minute, then realized that Kawalsky was doing the same thing.  As soon as she met his gaze, he grinned.

“He hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Daniel?”

“Yep.You wouldn’t believe some of the things he pulled the first time we went to Abydos.”

“Yes, well, Teal’c will keep an eye on him.”

Kawalsky’s grin broadened.   “How about checking out that temple place?”

“Yes, sir,” she acknowledged.   The sooner they checked it out, the sooner she could set up her equipment.

They paused at the entrance to the temple, and Kawalsky gestured that he would go in first and veer left.   Sam nodded and hefted her MP-5.   Though their caution might be unnecessary, she preferred to err on the side of caution.   Besides, the Major was giving her no choice in the matter.

She waited until he moved-with surprising speed-into the temple, and a heartbeat later she followed, immediately rolling to the right.

It was a plain, empty, box of a room with a ceiling that towered some thirty feet in the air and a doorway cut into the far wall.   They sat on the floor for a second, then Kawalsky grinned as he jumped to his feet.

“How ‘bout we try door number two?”

Sam followed Kawalsky as he moved cautiously toward the second room that Daniel had spoken about.   This was the room that should contain the altar, or at least, she hoped for Daniel’s sake, the remains of one.

At the entrance, they went through the same routine.   But when they came to a stop inside this room, they exchanged surprised looks.

“Okay,” Kawalsky said, “I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

“Neither was I,” Sam admitted.

Like the previous room, this one was empty.   With one exception.

In the center of the room stood a single pillar, perhaps five feet thick, towering above them, huge, yet oddly graceful . . . climbing skyward to end some twenty feet in the air.   It looked as if was made from some kind of mineral, dull gray and non-reflective.

But even more intriguing than its size, the pillar was covered, from top to bottom, with wonderfully complex and detailed abstract drawings.

“Daniel didn’t say anything about it being so . . .” she hesitated.Several adjectives drifted through her mind-imposing, inspiring, remarkable-but in the end she settled for just one.“So impressive.”

“Yeah.”Kawalsky walked around the pillar, looking at it closely, then backed away several paces so that he could gaze upwards.

“Well,” he mused, “it looks like it stops a good ten feet below the ceiling, so it’s definitely not helping to hold it up.   It must be the altar Daniel was talking about.”

“I guess so,” Sam said doubtfully.   It didn’t look like any altar they’d ever seen before.But what else could it be?   “We need Daniel in here, sir.”

“I’ll get him.”   Kawalsky headed for the door.   “Then I’ll head back down to help SG-2 keep the perimeter secure.   See you later, Captain.”

“Major,” Sam echoed.

She could hear his firm tread as he passed through the outer room, then silence fell.Sam moved closer to the pillar, intrigued although she didn’t know why.   The drawings were beautiful, although they didn’t seem to be actual pictures of anything.   They were more along the lines of abstract art and absolutely stunning.

Some inner sense stirred, niggling away at the edge of her mind.   She was missing something, Sam thought.   There was something here that she should be aware of but . . . but it was nothing she could put her finger on.

She circled the pillar again, annoyed with herself.   All right, the drawings were amazing, but there was nothing to indicate-

Sam stopped in her tracks as the light bulb went on.   It wasn’t the drawings that had been nagging at her.It was the pillar itself.   She drew closer, looked more intently, and swallowed hard.

The pillar appeared to be made from the same metallic, non-reflective material as the surface of the quantum mirror in the room at the base of the pyramid.

“Holy Hannah,” she whispered, awestruck.

The sound of Daniel’s voice calling her name pulled Sam out of her shock.She quickly backed away several paces, just before the archeologist burst into the room-

And skidded to a halt at the sight of the pillar.   

Sam looked at him, peripherally aware of Teal’c following him in.But Daniel had no eyes for anything except the pillar.Though suspecting she knew what he was going to say, she still had to ask.   “Is that something you’d expect to find in an Aztec pyramid?”

“Uh . . . no.”

“Are you sure?It’s not the altar?”

“No, no it’s not,” he said distractedly as he moved slowly into the room, his eyes devouring the sight before him.   He could barely hear his thoughts over his pounding heart.This was . . . it was . . . completely unexpected.According to every bit of research on Aztec twin-stair pyramids that he had been able to find in the last 24 hours, this simply did not belong here.

Or anywhere else he could imagine.

A few paces from the pillar Daniel changed his direction to walk slowly around it, his gaze roving upwards and downwards as he tried to take it all in.Suddenly he stopped in his tracks.

“Sam, this pillar looks like it’s made of the same material as the surface of the quantum mirror.”

“I know.”

In spite of his absorption, Daniel could hear the undertone of excitement in her voice.As he reached toward the pillar, she said abruptly,

“Don’t, Daniel.Don’t touch it until we know more, okay?”

Though, at the end, Sam had tried to phrase her words as a request, the archeologist knew it was an order and he sighed in frustration.   He lifted his video camera and began filming every inch of the pillar.

Whoever had created the drawings adorning the pillar had been a true artist.At first glance they appeared to be random, free-form drawings but Daniel quickly recognized a pattern, both in the drawings themselves and in their placement on the pillar.   His excitement surged higher-just in time for him to be struck by two, simultaneous realizations.   For an instant shock held him silent, then he coughed to clear his throat.

“Sam,” he said, “have you looked closely at these drawings?”

He knew she hadn’t, otherwise she would have noticed-and commented on-what he’d spotted.

“No, Daniel.I figured that was your territory.”

He tried to swallow his rising exhilaration.   “Actually, I think this is right up your alley, Sam.”

She moved up beside him, frowning.   “What are you talking about?”

He reached out toward the pillar and she caught his hand.“Daniel-”

“It’s okay.I’m not going to touch it.Just watch.”

Reluctantly, she released her grip.   Daniel’s finger hovered just an inch above one of the drawings as it slowly traced the outline.

“Look closely, Sam.What does this remind you of?”

She watched as he traced the design in the air, trying to comprehend what was apparently obvious to him.   It was a pretty design, she thought absently, obviously free-form yet compact, spiraling out from the center point like-

Her heart leaped into her throat and she caught his arm again, but this time in shivering excitement.

“Daniel!”

He beamed at her.   “Tell me what you see,” he coaxed, vaguely aware of Teal’c drawing closer.

Her trembling fingers joined his in hovering over the drawing.“Daniel,” she said again, whispering now, “I think this is a rendering of our galaxy when it was much younger.Millions of years younger . . . no, more than that.”

Daniel nodded slowly.   He could feel the shock trembling through her body and took her arm to pull her backwards several paces.With his free hand, he made a sweeping gesture toward the pillar.

“Now look at these other drawings in that context.”

Sam obeyed, studying the drawings with fresh eyes.   She started to move slowly around the pillar and he released his grip, knowing in that instant Sam was unaware of anything except the extraordinary sight before her.

As Daniel waited, he could hear her mumbling under her breath.Most of it was unintelligible, but the few words he heard were enough to confirm his suspicions.

“Andromeda . . . Centaurus A . . .Virgo Cluster . . . Bootes Void . . .”

After a moment, her voice trailed off but he could see her lips still moving.When she finally stopped beside him again, she appeared completely awe-struck.

“Sam, is this what I think it is?”   Daniel was pretty sure that it was, but confirmation from SG-1’s astrophysicist would be nice.

When she finally looked at him, her eyes were huge and slightly unfocused.“It’s, uh,” she started, but the word caught in her throat and she coughed, swallowed, and tried again.

“It’s a representation of the universe,” she said finally, disbelieving.“A much, much younger universe.”She looked again at the pillar, her expression filled with wonder.“It’s beautiful.”

“Yes,” Daniel said softly.   He hesitated, wondering if this was the right time to burden her with yet another extraordinary piece of information.   But she was acting C.O. of the team, which answered that question.

“There’s something else here,” he said.

Sam stared at him.   “Something else?”

Daniel gestured at the symbols set just below the drawing of a much younger Milky Way Galaxy.“Do you recognize these?”

After looking at them for a few minutes, she shook her head.“No.   But they look different from the other drawings.”

Daniel smiled.   “You’re right.They are different.I’m pretty sure they’re words, Sam.”

That jolted her.“How do you know?Can you read them?”

“No.But do you remember Ernest’s planet?”

Sam was startled by the abrupt change of subject.   “Yes, but what does that have to do with this?” 

“You didn’t see the room that Ernest showed us, the one containing writing from four races who, we think, made up a kind of United Nations of the stars.”Daniel’s voice shook a little as he pointed at the symbols.

“This is writing from one of those four races.”   

“What!”

She immediately looked more closely but all she could see was what looked like elegant, incomprehensible drawings.   But it didn’t matter how incomprehensible she found them.If Daniel believed the symbols were part of a language, that was good enough for her.

“You can’t translate it?”

Daniel shook his head.   “There’s not enough to provide me with a frame of reference,” he said regretfully, raising his video camera to get a close-up of the writing.   “But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the writing is placed directly below the representation of our galaxy.”   After a minute he lowered the video camera and pointed with his unencumbered hand.

“Nor do I think *that* is meaningless.”

Sam nodded.Yes, she had noticed that, too, when Daniel had first helped her to recognize what she was seeing.At the center of the representation of their galaxy, in the place of the sun, a small, darkly-glimmering oval stone had been set.

She eyed it thoughtfully.   It looked somewhat like an opal but she doubted that it was just an innocuous gem.

SG-1’s resident archeologist was also staring at it.   “I wonder,” he murmured.

Sam immediately put her hand on his arm.   “No, Daniel.”

“There’s nothing like this anywhere else on the pillar, Sam.There has to be a reason that this object is set in the center of our galaxy.   A reason beyond merely representing the sun.”

“You’re probably right, but we have no clue what touching it will do.And I don’t want you touching it, is that clear?”

Daniel sighed in frustration.   He understood Sam’s concern.   He really did.   But how was he supposed to work when they wouldn’t let him *do* his work?

But he had promised Jack he would listen to, i.e., ‘obey,’ Sam and Teal’c.Reluctantly, he took a step back from temptation.

“This is a representation of the Milky Way Galaxy, *our* galaxy,” he said, “and PXR 512 is located in our galaxy.   So it’s not surprising that there should be some kind of a special emphasis placed on this particular rendering.   But I believe it’s more than that.”

“Maybe the words just say something like, ‘you are here’,” Sam suggested.“You know, like the map you find in a mall?”

She hadn’t really intended it as a joke-okay, partly, maybe, to alleviate some of the tension.But Daniel’s reproachful, sideways look made it clear that he was not amused.

**~*~**

Three hundred feet below, at the base of the pyramid, Kawalsky was just returning from what felt like his hundredth sweep of the perimeter.He stopped near one of the huge stone walls to take another long look around.

On the surface, it all appeared normal.   Well, as normal as a guy could expect to find on another planet.Thick jungle, massive, ancient pyramid, blah blah blah.

But Kawalsky could understand why the Colonel had been so hinky about this place.The planet was so quiet, so empty of all life except the SG teams . . . it wasn’t natural.No way.

His radio crackled faintly, then he heard Ferretti’s voice.

“Ski?You back?”

Kawalsky keyed his radio.   “Yeah, Lou, just got back.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he repeated, “except I feel like I’m in the middle of one of those old T.V. westerns.”

“Say what?”

“You know, the one where the cavalry’s wandering around in Indian territory?   And one soldier says to the other, ‘It’s quiet,’ and the other soldier says, ‘Too quiet.’Just before a thousand Indians come charging over the hill.”

Ferretti’s snort of amusement was clearly audible over the radio.  “I haven’t noticed any smoke signals since we got here.”

“Me, neither.But keep your eyes peeled.”

There was a brief silence.   When Ferretti spoke again, all amusement had left his voice.   “You really think something’s out there?”

Kawalsky shrugged in frustration.   “Nothing I can see or hear, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve got a big target painted smack in the middle of my back.”

“Got’cha,” responded Ferretti.   “We’re due to make another sweep on this side anyway.”

“Check back every fifteen,” Kawalsky ordered, then made a face as he remembered that the General had put Ferretti in charge of this mission.

But after another brief silence, all he heard was a laconic, “Okay.”

Kawalsky gazed around the large, open expanse again, his eyes lingering on the jungle.Twenty years in the military, a good part of that in Special Ops, had taught him never to ignore his instincts.And, right now, his instincts were twanging loudly.

He recalled the discussion he and Ferretti had had with the Colonel in the infirmary.O’Neill hadn’t jumped on the possible stealth technology bandwagon, but his concern had still been obvious.How had the Colonel put it?Oh, yeah.

Maybe it was nothing.   But-Kawalsky was beginning to think-maybe it really was something.

~*~

An hour later, Lou Ferretti, along with SG-2’s munitions expert, Sergeant Ben Pollock, was returning to the tunnel entrance.   Even though he had been checking in regularly with his 2IC, he was still uncomfortable at the thought of two of his men lingering in that damn mirror room.But Duncan, their cultural expert, and the closest things to a science expert that SG-2 had, had argued that it was the best place to look for readings, at least down around the base of the pyramid.Ferretti had finally, reluctantly, given them permission, with strict orders that they were to get out of there immediately if anything unusual happened.

As of ten minutes ago, Barnett had reported everything clear.Nonetheless, Ferretti knew he would not feel comfortable until he was back with the rest of his team.

He was tempted to contact Captain Carter again, but their last check-in had only been fifteen minutes ago.   All he knew was that they’d found some kind of pillar with drawings on it that had both Daniel and the Captain silly with excitement.

Ferretti wished he was up there.   Even apart from the Colonel’s warning, he didn’t like SG-1 out from under his eye.   Carter was a fine officer but she was also a scientist and, right now, it sounded like the scientist was definitely in charge.

Damn it, anyway.He stretched his shoulders, but the gesture didn’t help the uneasiness that tightened his muscles.Ever since Kawalsky had voiced his own nebulous concerns, Lou had been on edge.   Both he and Kawalsky had been through a lot, survived a lot.And, except for Colonel O’Neill, Ferretti had never known anyone with better survival instincts than Charlie Kawalsky.

The Colonel had admitted his uneasiness about the planet to them in the infirmary.Now, Kawalsky had acknowledged feeling like he had a target painted on his back.   Two very experienced soldiers, both of whom sensed danger on the planet.Ferretti would have been an idiot to ignore their concerns, regardless of their vagueness.   And he prided himself on *not* being an idiot.

So now he watched and waited for he didn’t know what.

“Major?”

Ferretti keyed his radio.   “Yeah, Duncan.”

“There’s something you should see in here, sir.”

“What?”

“Uh . . .”

Ferretti’s concern suddenly ratcheted up several notches at the man’s uncharacteristic tentativeness.   He exchanged a long look with Pollock and picked up his pace.

“Sir,” Duncan finally said, “something’s different.”

“Be right there.”

Followed by Pollock, Ferretti double-timed along the pyramid wall and down the tunnel.They slowed as they reached the room and saw Duncan standing in front of the quantum mirror, playing with a piece of equipment.   Barnett was watching from near the entrance and he moved aside as their C.O. entered.

“What’s going on?” he demanded of his 2IC.

Barnett gestured toward Duncan.   “He was trying to take some readings and all of a sudden he got spooked.”

Duncan swung around.“I did not!” 

“That’s enough,” Ferretti said.   Mike Duncan wore two hats, military and anthropology.He was a good man, hard to rattle.Ordinarily.   Lou was increasingly concerned by the man’s unusual behavior.

“Report, Lieutenant.”

The direct order seemed to calm the younger man.   “Yes, sir.”   He held up a small piece of equipment that reminded the Major of his youngest son’s iPod.

“I was just doing what I’ve been doing since we got here, trying to get some kind of reading on this pyramid.   Nothing was happening until all of a sudden, just a minute ago, something did.”

“What?” Ferretti demanded impatiently.

Duncan shook his head.“I’m not sure, sir.   But all at once the readings went right off the chart, and I think-” he gestured toward the quantum mirror, “it was caused by *that*.”

Outside, Kawalsky was just returning from yet another sweep of the perimeter.  He was hot, filthy, drenched in sweat, and torn between an undefinable apprehension and simple irritation.He really wanted to get the hell off this damn planet.But periodic check-ins with SG-1 had confirmed that the pillar they’d found was worth spending some time on.

Based on everything that Ferretti had told him, the Major figured that the Jaffa, Teal’c, could probably whip his weight in tigers.   Nonetheless, Kawalsky was the senior officer on this mission (the General’s orders notwithstanding) and he really wished he was up there where he could keep a closer eye on SG-1.

What the hell-

Kawalsky stiffened, reaching out with his senses to identify whatever it was that had jolted him internally.   But as he held his breath he didn’t hear or-

Oh, shit.

The ground stirred, then surged beneath his feet, knocking him on his butt.He looked up, only to realize that the pyramid was towering above him.

How old had Daniel said this thing was?

Kawalsky swore at the sight of bits and pieces of the pyramid tumbling down the wall, and grabbed his radio.

“Ferretti!”

A second of silence, long enough to scare the spit out of him, then he heard the familiar voice.

“Watch your head, Ski.   Got another earthquake startin’ up!”

“No shit!” Kawalsky snarled as he rolled over onto his stomach, a simple action made difficult by the increasingly violent tremors surging through the earth.“Where are you?”

“The mirror room.”

“Get out of there!”

“Ski, it may be safer in here than outside-” Static erupted, cutting him off.

“That thing is thousands of years old.”   Kawalsky winced and cursed as larger pieces of stone fell from the wall and bounced off his head.

“It’s comin’ apart, Lou!   Get the hell out of there!”

A burst of static made him wince again, then he heard, “. . . down!The mirror’s changing . . .”

A louder burst of static made Kawalsky jerk his head away from the radio as he climbed awkwardly to his feet.   “Get out now, Ferretti!That’s a fuckin’ order!”

The radio whined sharply, then there was nothing.

Shit shit shit!

Kawalsky ran, stumbling, hands held protectively over his head, cursing every step of the way.

The ground heaved beneath him, sending him to his knees.As he staggered back up he thought he heard someone moaning, only to realize that the sound was actually coming from the ground itself.

Again the ground convulsed, heaving upwards, then twisting and surging.

As Kawalsky ran, tripped, stumbled, and ran some more, he could feel through his feet-as well as hear-the groaning of the tortured earth getting louder.

He was dimly aware off to his right the trees waving wildly in the air, and the ominous snapping and cracking of massive limbs. 

Hell, he was caught on both sides-dead if he remained near the crumbling pyramid, dead if he headed for the jungle.

As he staggered around the southeast corner of the pyramid, Kawalsky prayed that Ferretti was right.   That the room was safe.Because, sure as hell, no place out here was safe.

He opened his mouth to yell Ferretti’s name, then snapped it shut so fast he bit his tongue.

Son of a bitch!

The entrance to the tunnel had disappeared.   The wall was as blank and uninformative as it had been when they first arrived.

The earth roared and heaved around him-

The massive wall shivered, cracks beginning to appear under his pounding fists-

The ground convulsed beneath his feet, throwing him to his knees-

An explosion rent the air above him-

As Kawalsky whipped his head around, he was just in time to see the huge tree falling toward him.

~*~

In the temple on top of the pyramid, SG-1 was focused on the ancient-how ancient no one could imagine-rendering of their universe.   Even Teal’c had joined them, his dark eyes carefully taking in every inch of the pillar.

“I wonder,” Daniel mused as he switched off his video recorder.

“Wonder what, Daniel Jackson?”

He gave them a quick, deprecating smile over his shoulder.  “It’s crazy, Teal’c.   I guess my imagination is really working overtime.”

Considering the theories he had postulated in the last 24 hours, Sam couldn’t imagine what was on his mind now.   And, she realized, she was afraid to ask.

But Teal’c was not.   “I would like to know your thoughts, Daniel Jackson.

The archeologist offered them another tentative smile as he turned back to the pillar.“Actually, I was wondering if this had been created at the same time as the universe represented in the drawings.”

Sam choked momentarily before she was able to speak again.   “Daniel, that would mean there were sentient beings in existence when galaxies were still forming, when *our* galaxy was still forming.”

He gave a little shrug, one eyebrow quirking upwards.   Sam turned back to the pillar, afraid to encourage him.There was no telling what he might come up with next if she challenged him.   And her brain was already way past overload.

She straightened abruptly.   What-

“Captain Carter-”   Teal’c’s warning was cut off when the floor rolled beneath their feet.

“Damn!” Sam snapped as she staggered to keep her balance.She opened her mouth to ask Daniel if he thought this room would be safe in an earthquake, only to snap it shut again.Safe or not, there was no place else for them to go up here.And trying to make their way back down the great staircase outside would be nothing short of suicide.

Unconsciously, both she and Teal’c moved away from the pillar, not stopping their retreat until they were against opposing walls.

“Daniel,” Sam called, seeing he hadn’t moved, “get away from the pillar.We don’t know how secure it is.”

“It’s okay, Sam,” he returned, lurching sideways before he caught himself.

She would have argued but she doubted he could hear her.The noise was getting louder-the roaring of the planet itself, the growing thunder of cascading rocks and stone, while in the room dust rose up in clouds as tiny and not-so-tiny pieces of the walls crumbled and fell to the floor.

A sudden lurch of the floor knocked Sam off her feet.   She winced and swore when her knees struck the stone floor.For an instant she contemplated remaining on the floor rather than try to stand again.   But the thought of her lack of mobility and increased risk forced her upright, even as she staggered in an effort to keep her balance.

When she looked at Daniel again her heart stopped.   He was staring past her, his huge eyes all that could be seen in his ashen features.

 

Immediately, she turned to see what he was looking at.

As she followed his gaze, Sam realized that he was staring toward the junction of the two far walls . . . except, as she looked, she realized that the surface of the massive stone blocks seemed to be rippling slightly . . . as if the very substance they were composed of was somehow changing.   

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything she thought she knew turned upside down as the stone walls became transparent . . .

“No,” she whispered.   “That’s impossible.”

Impossible or not, she could clearly see the sky outside, as visible as if the wall had never existed.   Yet, somehow, as she continued to stare with unbelieving eyes, Sam sensed that some part, some essence of the stone was still there . . . while the stone itself was now completely translucent. 

Shock gave way to survival as the entire pyramid seemed to shudder.As she tried desperately to maintain her balance on the surging floor, she saw Daniel fall forward, instinctively reaching out for something, anything, to break his fall.

Even as a warning cry formed in her throat, Sam knew it was too late.

A split-second before Daniel hit the floor, his right hand struck the small oval stone in the center of the drawing of their much younger galaxy.

Instantly, inexplicably, the air grew heavier, and the room was filled with a breathless sensation, as if the planet itself was holding its breath.Then, above the pillar, something barely visible began to appear, a faint . . . smokiness, edged in mist . . . not containing any colors or lights, per se, yet somehow containing qualities of both, barely-there kinds of . . . colors . . . but unnamable colors unlike anything the universe had to offer, heart-stoppingly beautiful, other-worldly colors beyond human definition . . .

But all so faint, so ethereal, that she wondered if she was imagining it.Except no human imagination could have come up with something so . . . so utterly alien.

Some part of Sam’s shocked mind that still functioned told her that what she was seeing was on the very edge of human comprehension.   If her vision had evolved even slightly differently, she doubted if she could have seen any of this.   If she was actually seeing anything . . .

She heard a pained gasp nearby, and only the realization that one of her teammates was in trouble was strong enough to tear her eyes from the *something* that seemed to be forming above the pillar.

Sam was in time to see Teal’c, both hands curled protectively over his pouch, collapse bonelessly to the floor.

Her gaze turned to Daniel, who lay face down on the floor, one hand weakly grasping at nothing.

She was vaguely aware that she needed to see to her stricken teammates.But, instead, she felt her gaze drawn inexorably toward the ceiling once again.

Only to see the *something* moving, dropping lower until it paused near the base of the pillar.

The force of the increasing tremors threw her back against the wall.Sam gasped reflexively as her body slammed against the stone and pain exploded in her head.   But in spite of her graying vision, her eyes never left the unspeakably alien figure slowly forming beside the pillar.

Suddenly, incongruously, and as clearly as if he had been standing beside her, Sam heard Colonel O’Neill’s familiar voice offering his succinct observation on this newest surprise-

“Well, shit.”

As darkness overwhelmed her, Sam’s last thought was that she couldn’t agree more.

END (for now)

  


* * *

  


> This begins  
> right where Part 1 ended, so it won’t make any sense unless you’ve read the  
> first part.Also, this fic contains a  
> discussion about life and death, so, inevitably, certain religious issues come  
> up in the conversation.If this kind of  
> thing offends you, you’ll probably be better off not reading this story.  
>   Last, but certainly not least, special thanks  
> to Charlene who read this over beforehand and answered some of my  
> concerns.You *still* da best, girl!

* * *

> August 7, 2005 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.   
> 

* * *

  



End file.
